COMPTROLLER REVIEW OF PARK PERMITS
FINDS FLAWS IN COUNTY PROCEDURES

A review by the Nassau County Comptroller of permits for the use of county parks by day camps has found that the county has not developed written policies and procedures for entering into revenue agreements in its public parks.

Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman said, “As in other areas of county government, the parks permitting process that the current administration inherited from the previous administration – if you can call it a process – was in disarray. While an attempt has been made to promote competition in this area, there is still room for improvement. In particular, the Parks Department needs a set of consistent guidelines and procedures governing the awarding of revenue-generating agreements for the county’s public parks.”

The review found that the county has awarded various permits for both commercial and non-commercial uses of county parks since 1970, when the Board of Supervisors (the predecessor of the Nassau County Legislature) authorized the Parks Commissioner to issue them at his or her discretion.

To remedy the lack of formal procedures in this area, the Comptroller called for the Parks Department to:

• follow a request for proposals (RFP) process or similar competitive process when entering into agreements to operate camps in county parks;
  
• document outreach efforts more thoroughly, and clearly describe its intentions when seeking operators for revenue-generating programs;
  
• document analyses performed to support decisions to enter into revenue-generating agreements, including the justification for agreed-upon fees.

The full report may be viewed and printed online by clicking on the report title below.

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Office of the County Comptroller Parks Permit Audit ( ~ 86 kB - 6 pages "pdf" file )