City parks to see tax money boost

FORT WAYNE City officials unveiled $3 million worth of improvements to Fort Wayne Parks on Monday afternoon, the latest in what is expected to be a parade of announcements on how the citys new income tax money will be spent.

City Council members June 25 approved raising the local option income tax from 1 percent to 1.35 percent, which will generate about $13.5 million a year.

The tax increase takes effect Oct. 1 and is meant to close a budget gap caused by property tax caps and pay for projects and services officials say are needed but currently unaffordable.

Among the needs, the city said, was an additional $3 million a year to maintain the beloved park system. Now, they say, those needs can be met.

This is the most significant event to happen to the park system since well maybe in its history, Parks Director Al Moll said. This will ensure the park system is taken care of long after were here.

Moll said every poll, every survey taken shows that Fort Wayne residents love the parks and want to maintain them. The new money, he said, means that will happen, and the city wont have to go into debt.

Well be able to pay as we go for a change, rather than borrowing, Moll said.

Among the projects the new money will pay for in 2014 is a splash pad for Hamilton Park at Spring Street and Cherokee Road, an additional restroom in Shoaff Park, the first year of a 10-year plan to resurface park roads, parking lots, and tennis and basketball courts, and the first phase of renovations to the Diehm Museum Pavilion.

Other projects include sidewalk improvements, roof replacements, electric and HVAC work, pool maintenance and improvements, and work at playgrounds and the botanical conservatory.

New roofs and asphalts probably not sexy, but it has to be done, Moll said.

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City parks to see tax money boost