City to raise park fees by 400% !

The Superintendent of the Minneapolis Park Board has proposed increasing 2008 fees for Major Permit Events - some by as many as 400%, which will ultimately hurt the work of local nonprofit organizations who use Minneapolis Parks for their special events, such as the Pride Festival.

The proposal will take Pride's fee from $10K to $58K in just one year!

Organizations affected by these proposed changes include, but are not limited to the following organizations: March of Dimes, MS Society, Minnesota Aids Project, Minneapolis Aquatennial, Twin Cities Pride, Uptown Art Fair, Stone Arch Art Festival, the Twin Cities Loppet, and the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships.

Twin Cities Pride's park fees could potentially be increased by more than 400% under the proposed budget. While we realize that the cost of doing business increases over time (which we take into consideration during the budgeting process), there is no way that Pride can afford a 400% increase in fees without impacting the quality of the Pride Festival in other ways.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Twin Cities Pride strongly urges you to take action and make your voice heard by the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board commissioners by attending the upcoming Park Board meetings listed below. If we can get a large turnout at these meetings, we will stand a better chance of avoiding this dramatic increase in costs. In addition, we encourage you to phone and email members of the Park Board. Contact information and a sample letter that you can copy & paste into your email to the commissioners is below.

Park Board Meeting - Public Comment on Proposed Budget
Wednesday, December 5 at 5pm
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Headquarters
2117 West River Road, Minneapolis

Truth in Taxation Hearing - Public Comment on Proposed Park Budget
Tuesday, December 11 at 5:05pm
Minneapolis City Hall, Room 317, Minneapolis

Park Board Budget Adopted - Public Comment on Proposed Park Budget
Wednesday, December 12 at 5:05pm
Minneapolis City Hall, Room 317, Minneapolis

SEND AN EMAIL TO THE COMMISSIONERS
Please copy and paste the text below into your email to the commissioners:

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Dear Commissioner

I am writing you today to encourage you to please reconsider the dramatic increase in fees for special events in Minneapolis Parks as proposed in the Superintendent's 2008 Budget. This increase in fees will severely impair the ability of nonprofit organizations doing good and vital work in the community to hold their annual events.

The fees for some events are rising more than 400%, which is an unconscionable increase in expense for any organization.

These organizations make our community better, improve the quality of life in Minnesota, promote social justice in our society and provide valuable health and wellness services and advocacy for our community. Many of these events are run by largely volunteer organizations and do not have the ability to absorb such a dramatic increase.

Please do what you can to prevent these fee increases from taking effect.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP

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Here is a list of the commissioners who serve on the Minneapolis Park Board and how to contact them:

Walt Dziedzic, Commissioner District 1
612-230-6443 ext. 1
wdziedzic@minneapolisparks.org

Jon Olson, Commissioner District 2
612-230-6443 ext. 2
jolson@minneapolisparks.org

Scott Vreeland, Commissioner District 3
612-230-6443 ext. 3
svreeland@minneapolisparks.org

Tracy Nordstrom, Commissioner District 4
612-230-6443 ext. 4
tnordstrom@minneapolisparks.org

Carol A. Kummer, Commissioner District 5
612-230-6443 ext. 5
ckummer@minneapolisparks.org

Bob Fine, Commissioner District 6
612-230-6443 ext. 6
bfine@minneapolisparks.org

Mary Merrill Anderson, Commissioner At Large
612-230-6443 ext. 7
mmerrillanderson@minneapolisparks.org

Tom Nordyke, Commissioner At Large
612-230-6443 ext. 8
tnordyke@minneapolisparks.org

M. Annie Young, Commissioner At Large
612-230-6443 ext. 9
ayoung@minneapolisparks.org

Here is the contact information for the Minneapolis Park Board Superintendent:

Jon Gurban, Superintendent
612-230-6400
jgurban@minneapolisparks.org