Maddox To Present PARA Funding Proposal To Northport Officials

NORTHPORT, AL — Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox will visit with the Northport City Council for a special called work session on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. to provide a presentation concerning the future of Tuscaloosa County Park & Recreation Authority and possible funding for the quasi-governmental agency.

Northport's role in funding the metro parks system has been a topic of debate, as Tuscaloosa city officials have proposed scaling back funding from Tuscaloosa County, while raising it own contributions and encouraging Northport to do the same until all three governmental bodies are evenly funding PARA. The funding model currently in place is viewed as unsustainable over the long term, and Maddox has pushed for the city to take the lead in restructuring the entire approach for its operations.

Patch reported earlier this month that under Maddox's recent proposed funding model, PARA would see an increase of $476,415 from the City of Tuscaloosa in FY 2022, while proposing that the City of Northport raise its funding of PARA by $548,855. The increased funding, if properly executed, would then allow Tuscaloosa County to cut its contributions by $383,360.

While Northport has seen its funding of PARA increase by 17% since 2005, according to data provided by the City of Tuscaloosa, it still lags the City of Tuscaloosa's funding increase of 49% over this time and the county's increase of 227% since 2005. In total, PARA has seen a 99% increase in its funding over the last 15 years.

Under this proposed model, City of Tuscaloosa officials report that Northport's contributions for operations funding would come out to $20 per person for FY2022, compared to $27 per citizen for the City of Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County. Northport would then increase its contributions by a minimum of a dollar annually until equal to Tuscaloosa and the county.

As it currently stands, the City of Northport's contributions to PARA for FY2021 comes out to $5.98 per citizen, compared to Tuscaloosa ($39.77 per citizen) and Tuscaloosa County ($38.67).

Other recommendation's under Maddox's plan include:

- Directly funding Arts Council of Tuscaloosa and Ol' Colony Golf Course.

- Provide funding contingent on accountability and performance measures.

- Establish a funding model that encourages shared responsibility and effective management of the funding partners and PARA.

- Enhance PARA's governance to include an executive committee of funding partners.

- Establish a Parks and Recreation Committee on the Tuscaloosa City Council.

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