How do we build these parks? The seven parks and fisheries that have been opened up in the last five years have been paid from the new growth that has occurred in the city. It might not surprise you to know that Washington City is adding just under 1,000 residents per year to our community (even in spite of the downturn in the economy). These residents when they build their home pay an impact fee. This fee is used exclusively to provide the facilities that these new residents will use; such as parks, trails, water lines, new streets, etc. Without impact fees existing facilities would be inadequate for our population or the current residents would need to pay for these new facilities in their taxes. Washington City has been able to add all of these facilities without increasing the tax load on our residents.
Why do we build these parks? Washington City has a large number of young families as citizens. Our senior population is more active and we live in a climate where the outdoors can be enjoyed year-around. Parks and trails add to the quality for life of all of our citizens. We continually find that individuals and families are making decisions on where to live based upon the quality of life of an area. We believe this is one of the reasons we have shown greater growth in Washington City than in our surrounding communities; we truly are becoming the city of choice in our area. For me however the reason we build these parks was in a experience I had the other day. As I was driving down 300 East I passed a young boy about 9 or 10. He was riding his bike with a fishing pole and tackle box strapped to the back. He was smiles from ear-to-ear as he prepared for his days adventure of fishing at the newly built fishing pond. If you ever question "why" we build these facilities, drive over to any of our parks and watch our families celebrating birthdays, walking hand-in-hand with their kids around the trail or listening to the squeals and shouts of the soccer game going on, and you will know the answer.
