Form revised December 4, 2006

FISCAL NOTE FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS ONLY

Department:	Contact Person/Phone:	DOF Analyst/Phone:
Parks and Recreation	Donald Harris / 684-8018	Jennifer Devore / 615-1328

Legislation Title:

AN ORDINANCE authorizing the Superintendent of Parks and Recreation to enter into an Agreement with the Seattle Foundation relating to the implementation of the Seward Park Reforestation Program; authorizing acceptance of funds from the Seattle Foundation for such purpose; amending the 2007-2012 Capital Improvement Program; and increasing appropriations in the Department of Parks and Recreation’s 2007 Adopted Budget; all by a three-fourths vote of the City Council.

Summary and background of the Legislation:

This proposed legislation will authorize the Superintendent of Parks and Recreation (Superintendent) to enter into an Agreement with the Seattle Foundation (Foundation) that outlines the roles and responsibilities of the Foundation and the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) with respect to accepting donations from the Foundation and to expending the funds for the restoration of the Seward Park forest and shoreline.  The legislation also creates a new CIP project which will be named ‘Seward Park Forest Restoration’ (K732367).

In 1994, DPR officially began its Cumulative Reserve Subfund (CRS) funded Forest Restoration Program.  The purpose of this program is to restore forested park lands to healthy, sustainable ecosystems.  A major component of the program is the development of a “Vegetation Management Plan” (VMP) for over 60 selected parks.  The VMP provides the basis for assessing and defining the condition of the forest and provides recommendations and/or best management practices for forest restoration.  Having a VMP in place makes a park eligible for restoration work should funding become available such as through the Green Seattle Partnership (GSP), a grant source or donation.  Such is the case with Seward park. 

The VMP for Seward Park was completed in 2004.  In early 2007 DPR was approached by an individual who was interested in making an anonymous donation to DPR.  The donor’s area of interest was forest restoration combined with a particular fondness for Seward Park.  Working from the Seward Park VMP, staff from DPR’s Forestry Section developed and presented to the donor a proposal that would significantly enhance the forest and shoreline in Seward Park through his very generous donation.  The proposal calls for the donor to make three consecutive annual allocations of $333,000 each to the Foundation.  The Foundation will distribute annual predetermined funding increments to DPR beginning with the first payment of $225,000 in 2007.  Payments in subsequent years will be inflated by 3% per year.  Annual payments will continue until the principal and all earned interest has been spent, which is estimated to be 2018.

Project Name:	Project I.D.	Project Location:	Start Date:	End Date
Seward Park Forest Restoration	K732367	5902 Lake Washington Blvd S	Dec 2007	Jan 2018 (estimated)

· Please check any of the following that apply:

____ This legislation creates, funds, or anticipates a new CIP Project.

____ This legislation does not have any financial implications.

_X_ This legislation has financial implications.

Appropriations: 

Fund Name and Number	Department	Budget Control Level*	2007 Appropriation	2008 Anticipated Appropriation
Cumulative Reserve Subfund – Unrestricted             ( 00164)	Parks and Recreation	Forest Restoration (K72442)	$225,000	$0
TOTAL			$225,000	$0

Notes:  Appropriation authority for subsequent years will be included in each year’s respective budget.

Spending Plan and Future Appropriations for Capital Projects:

Spending Plan and Budget	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	Total
Spending Plan		$225,000	$108,000	$90,000	$92,700	$95,481	$611,181
Current Year Appropriation	$225,000						$225,000
Future Appropriations		$0	$108,000	$90,000	$92,700	$95,481	$386,181

Notes:  This spending plan includes an estimated 6% annual interest rate on the fund balance.  The appropriation schedule is based on the assumption that the donations received from the donor will be dispersed from the Foundation to DPR as shown in the Funding Source table that follows.  See Exhibit 1 to view all years of the spending plan (2007 thru 2018).

Funding source:

Funding Source (Fund Name and Number, if applicable)	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	Total
Seattle Foundation Seward Park Fund	$225,000	$0	$108,000	$90,000	$92,700	$95,481	$611,181
TOTAL	$225,000	$0	$108,000	$90,000	$92,700	$95,481	$611,181

Notes:  The $1,000,000 from the donor to the Foundation is contingent upon the City implementing a significant amount of the work in Seward Park during 2008.  Since this project is part of DPR and the City of Seattle’s (City) Green Seattle Partnership (GSP) effort there is a high degree of certainty that additional donations and/or grants will be received from private individuals, corporations, foundations, and other public sources over the lifetime of this donation.  However, it is not possible at this time to ascertain the amount or timing of other funds.  See Exhibit 2 for all years of funding source (2007 thru 2018) being approved by this legislation.

Bond Financing Required:  N/A.

Type	Amount	Assumed Interest Rate	Term	Timing	Expected Annual Debt Service/Payment
TOTAL	N/A

Uses and Sources for Operation and Maintenance Costs for the Project:

O&M	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	Total
Uses
Start Up
On-going	$0	$0	$0	$0	$3,608	$7,361	$10,969
Sources (itemize)
Other - TBD	$0	$0	$0	$0	$3,608	$7,361	$10,969
Total	$0	$0	$0	$0	$3,608	$7,361	$10,969

Notes:  The estimates above reflect the additional O&M costs necessary to maintain the Restoration project once plant establishment is completed for the 50 acres in the plan.  These costs are dependent upon the successful establishment of a native plant community over a three year period.  Annual O&M costs are based on 2008 estimated costs at $340 per acre per year.  A 2% inflation factor is included for each successive year.  The O&M in year 2011 reflects the acres that were initially restored in 2008 being transferred to ongoing maintenance after a successful 3 year plant establishment period.  In each subsequent year the total number of acres in O&M phase will increase in concert with the acreage restored to maintainable condition.

These figures assume the restoration of 50 acres at the end of 2018.  If additional donations or private funding is received the O&M costs will be increased respectively.  If the on-line date changes for a significant number of acres, O&M costs will need to be adjusted accordingly as well. 

The operation and maintenance tasks include monitoring and removal of invasive species, installing new plantings as warranted, elimination of unauthorized access trails as sites are restored and removal of debris and encampments.  A significant amount of this time will also include training volunteers to develop volunteer Forest Stewards for each site.

Periodic Major Maintenance costs for the project:

Major Maintenance Item	Frequency	Cost	Likely Funding Source
NA
TOTAL	N/A

Funding sources for replacement of project:  Identify possible and/or recommended method of financing the project replacement costs.

N/A

Total Regular Positions Created Or Abrogated Through This Legislation, Including FTE Impact: 

Position Title and Department*		Fund Name		Fund Number	Part-Time/ Full Time	2007 Positions	2007 FTE	2008 Positions**	2008 FTE**
	TOTAL		N/A

Notes:  No new positions will be created as a result of this legislation.

· Do positions sunset in the future?  N/A

· What is the financial cost of not implementing the legislation:  If this legislation is not approved by City Council, DPR will lose the $1,000,000 donation.

· What are the possible alternatives to the legislation that could achieve the same or similar objectives:  At this time, there are no other viable opportunities to obtain a donation of this magnitude for Seward Park.

· Is the legislation subject to public hearing requirements: This legislation is not subject to any public hearing requirements.  However, the Seward Park VMP was subject to public review during its development and presentation to the Parks Board of Commissioners.  Four public meetings regarding the VMP were held between December 2002 and November 2004.  The Seward Park VMP is supported by the Friends of Seward Park and has been integrated with educational opportunities provided by the Audubon Center in Seward Park.

· Other Issues:  This legislation is the first of hopefully many such donations to support the GSP, a citywide effort to restore 2,500 of the 3,200 acres of forested parklands in the city.  The combined estimated need for the GSP over the 30 year lifetime is $52 million.  This donation will provide significant leveraging opportunities to meet this need.

Please list attachments to the fiscal note below: 

Exhibit A:  Spending Plan and Budget 2007- 2018

Exhibit B:  Funding Source 2007 - 2018

Seward Park Donation    

Spending Plan and Budget 2007 – 2018

Spending Plan and Budget	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	Total
Spending Plan	$0	$225,000	$108,000	$90,000	$92,700	$95,481	$98,345	$101,295	$104,339	$110,599	$113,917	$57,567	$1,197,243
Current Year Appropriation	$225,000												$225,000
Future Appropriations		$0	$108,000	$90,000	$92,700	$95,481	$98,345	$101,295	$104,339	$110,599	$113,917	$57,567	$972,243

Seward Park Donation

Funding Source 2007 - 2018

Funding Source (Fund Name and Number, if applicable)	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	Total
Seattle Foundation Seward Park Fund	$225,000	$0	$108,000	$90,000	$92,700	$95,481	$98,345	$101,295	$104,339	$110,599	$113,917	$57,567	$1,197,243
TOTAL	$225,000	$0	$108,000	$90,000	$92,700	$95,481	$98,345	$101,295	$104,339	$110,599	$113,917	$57,567	$1,197,243