Playing Smart changelabsolutions.org | kaboom.org 51 Moreover, many school districts and public agencies do not know the true costs of owning and operating their facilities, and therefore do not know how to set accurate rental rates. The Center for Cities & Schools at the University of California at Berkeley has developed two important tools that can help compute these costs and develop appropriate fee structures. The School Facilities Joint Use Cost Calculator, created in partnership with the 21st Century School Fund, helps determine facility costs on a square-foot and hourly basis, which can then be used to develop fee structures based on the real costs. (See chapter 2 for more about the cost calculator.) The second tool is a report titled San Francisco’s Public School Facilities as Public Assets: A Shared Understanding and Policy Recommendations for the Community Use of Schools, which outlines the results of a yearlong stakeholder process to develop more effective joint use strategies. Using the calculator tool, the report presents recommendations for developing a sliding-scale fee structure in which different types of users (for-profit organizations, nonprofits, and individuals) are charged different amounts. Such a fee structure can help keep community resources affordable by subsidizing nonprofit and/or individual users while still enabling facility owners to cover their costs. Both of these resources are available at http://citiesandschools.berkeley.edu/joint-use.html. Additional Funding Options Beyond the funding mechanisms described in this chapter, cities, counties, school districts, and community groups have pursued other ways to raise funds and gather resources to support joint use ventures. Some examples: Sale or Lease of Surplus Property The sale or lease of underutilized city-, county- or district-owned land or other facilities can be an important source of revenue.80 The money earned from selling the property can be used to acquire new parks or school sites or to construct or renovate recreational facilities. Care should be taken, however, to ensure that the revenues earned from the sale are placed in a special capital fund to serve the intended purpose, rather than merely ending up in the general fund. Revenues from long-term leases can go toward maintenance or underwriting joint use programs. Or surplus parcels owned by one entity can be traded with another agency to acquire land more suitable for recreational uses. This approach – one that is the spirit of joint use – involves granting the right of first refusal of surplus public facilities to other departments or units of local government so that they could take over the property and put it to suitable public/joint use. Such an arrangement could yield benefits, albeit of a different sort from the financial revenues generated by the sale or lease of the property or facility. However, the laws governing the sale or transfer of publicly owned land can be very complex, and the viability of this approach may depend greatly on political will combined with staff expertise to accomplish a sale or lease of surplus property. Adopt-a-Park or Adopt-a-School Program An adopt-a-park or adopt-a-school program is a way to build a core of reliable volunteers who will participate in monthly work parties or other scheduled events to help maintain recreational facilities or community gardens for minimal or no cost. For example, a business or nonprofit group can take responsibility for maintaining a park sports field, a school track, or other community recreational facility in return for public acknowledgment of their important contribution. Likewise, a parents’ group or a “Friends of” organization could participate in monthly clean-up days or even agree to monitor and maintain a school or community garden. A sports league could volunteer to help maintain the fields and other facilities in exchange for reduced user fees. Donations Private and corporate donations are another way to help support joint use projects. For small-scale improvements or program needs, a school might choose to raise funds through its informal parent and community network or by forming a committee of parents to organize a fundraising event such as a silent auction. For joint use program support, businesses or community-based organizations could be enlisted to sponsor sporting events, sports teams, or youth activities. To fund a larger facility improvement project, consider a capital campaign. A capital campaign generally has a targeted fundraising goal and timeline and is a highly focused way to raise funds from a variety of private sector sources, including individuals, corporations, foundations, and faith-based organizations. (For more
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