2023 NRPA Agency Performance Review | 19 At the same time, per capita operations spending is inversely related to the population of the area served. Agencies serving less than 20,000 people have a median operating expenditure of $120.79 per resident. That figure declines to $54.62 per resident for agencies serving jurisdictions of more than 250,000 people, declining further to $41.67 in jurisdictions of more than 500,000 residents. One can normalize operating expenditures by the amount of parkland managed by an agency. The median operating expenditure is $7,388 per acre of park and non-park sites managed by the typical agency. (Note: Non-park sites are public spaces — such as lawns at a city hall — not designated as parks, but whose maintenance and/or operation costs are part of the park and recreation agency’s budget.) The typical operating expenditure per acre of parkland increases with population density. The typical agency serving a jurisdiction of fewer than 500 people per square mile spends $4,359 per acre of park and non-park sites. The median rises to $13,048 per acre at agencies serving a jurisdiction with a population density greater than 2,500 residents per square mile. Park and recreation agencies serving larger populations tend to have lower operating expenditures than do agencies serving small- and medium-sized jurisdictions. The typical park and recreation agency serving a jurisdiction of less than 20,000 people spends a median of $7,495 per acre of park and non-park sites. The median increases to $8,106 per acre for agencies serving jurisdictions with populations between 20,000 and 49,999, but then declines to $3,970 per acre managed by agencies serving more than 250,000 people. The typical park and recreation agency has $105,484 in annual operating expenditures for each employee (as measured by full-time equivalent (FTE) employees). The denser the population an agency serves, the higher the operating expenditures for each FTE. Agencies serving less than 500 residents per square mile have median operating expenditures of $97,861 for each FTE. The median rises to $113,888 per FTE for agencies serving areas with more than 2,500 residents per square mile. As is the case for most nonprofit/government entities, personnel services account for the largest share of the operations budget at the typical park and recreation agency. $10,000 $8,000 $6,000 $4,000 $2,000 0 OPERATING EXPENDITURES PER ACRE OF PARK AND NON-PARK SITES FIGURE 15: OPERATING EXPENDITURES PER ACRE OF PARK AND NON-PARK SITES (BY JURISDICTION POPULATION) All Agencies Less Than 20,000 20,000 to 49,999 50,000 to 99,999 100,000 to 250,000 More Than 250,000 All Agencies Less Than 20,000 20,000 to 49,999 50,000 to 99,999 100,000 to 250,000 More Than 250,000 Median $7,388 $7,495 $8,106 $9,108 $7,323 $3,970 Lower Quartile $3,521 $3,692 $4,250 $5,434 $3,082 $1,601 Upper Quartile $17,668 $23,506 $20,047 $20,564 $14,045 $10,629 $120 $100 $80 $60 $40 $20 $0 OPERATING EXPENDITURES PER CAPITA FIGURE 14: OPERATING EXPENDITURES PER CAPITA (BY JURISDICTION POPULATION) All Agencies Less Than 20,000 20,000 to 49,999 50,000 to 99,999 100,000 to 250,000 More Than 250,000 All Agencies Less Than 20,000 20,000 to 49,999 50,000 to 99,999 100,000 to 250,000 More Than 250,000 Median $94.77 $120.79 $103.95 $120.70 $75.88 $54.62 Lower Quartile $53.23 $69.65 $64.04 $73.64 $47.07 $22.04 Upper Quartile $173.05 $229.61 $197.61 $197.47 $155.62 $93.16
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