PARK FINANCING 473 



safeguarded by the requirement that proposals for bond issues must be 

 submitted to a direct vote of the people. The same principle applies to those 

 bonds issued for park purposes. The use of this authority to issue bonds for 

 the acquisition and improvement of park properties is almost universally 

 practiced throughout the United States, especially by the larger cities and 

 by counties having park systems, but the practice is not uncommon among 

 smaller municipal corporations. 



Because the life use of a park or other recreation area is likely to be 

 for several generations, it appears only just that the entire burden of acquisi- 

 tion should not be borne by the generation acquiring the area. It is some- 

 times asserted that future generations will have burdens enough to provide 

 for their own needs, partly because of the things left undone by preceding 

 generations and partly because as civilization develops each generation 

 will have increasing needs that will have to be met, and that, therefore, it 

 is unfair to project indebtedness onto future generations. There is much 

 truth in this assertion where long term bonds have been used for improve- 

 ments only, the term of life of which may not outlast the generation making 

 the improvement; but in the acquisition of real properties such as park and 

 recreation areas, the usefulness of which will likely continue for many genera- 

 tions, no such criticism can justly be made. However, because of this idea 

 and because of the possible abuse of bond issuing powers, some communities 

 have tried to adhere to the policy of "pay-as-you-go" mentioned in the 

 preceding section. 



Purposes for which bonding power may well be used. Most American 

 communities have sadly neglected to provide themselves with the necessary 

 recreation areas in times past, and the only practicable way of catching up, 

 as well as of preparing for the future, is to mortgage their future to a greater 

 or less degree, in order to meet their present and future needs. Considerable 

 discrimination should be exercised, however, in the use of the bonding 

 power where these bonds are secured by general taxation. It would appear 

 that general bond issues might very well be used for the following purposes 

 in relation to park and recreation areas: 



(a) Acquisition and improvement of large parks, (b) Acquisition and 

 improvement of outlying parks and reservations, (c) Waterfront prop- 

 erties providing general bathing, boating or other recreation facilities, (d) 

 Site and building of a downtown community center that may be used by 

 all the people of the community, (e) Site and structure for a municipal 

 theatre, art gallery, museum, site and structures for a zoological garden, site 

 and structure of a stadium and similar facilities, (f) Neighborhood play- 

 grounds or neighborhood playfield-parks in rundown sections of cities 

 where property values would hardly make possible the use of the district 



