Individuals have pumped money into Baltimore County's parks for years. But these days, county officials are looking toward another source for bigger cash gifts to supplement tax dollars: corporate America.
Baltimore County park officials, like their counterparts in neighboring jurisdictions, are studying ways to collect corporate donations to help fund a park system that is increasingly strapped for cash.
"It's a potential source of revenue for us and an issue that we ought to be thinking about," said John F. Weber III, the county director of recreation and parks.
Weber is drafting a policy that spells out how much the county would require from a corporate sponsor in exchange for a sign, plaque or brochure acknowledging the donation.
"The issue is, if some corporate sponsor gives us $10,000 or $25,000, what would that entitle them to? Would that give them the right to a 30-foot-high sign for 10 years, or a 20-foot sign for 20 years?" Weber said.
Baltimore County's effort is part of a regional trend.
"As tax dollars for park programs have gotten tighter, we've gotten more receptive to entering into partnerships with the corporate world," said Jay Cuccia, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel Department of Recreation and Parks.
For seven years, Anne Arundel County has been quietly soliciting corporate contributions. Howard County, which collects about $50,000 a year from business and corporate partnerships, is studying a 1997 consultant's report that recommends stepped-up solicitation of corporations.
"Basically, right now we respond to requests as they come in," said William "Al" Harden, recreation manager for the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks.
Anne Arundel officials began collecting donations from companies, including McDonald's and First National Bank of Maryland, about seven years ago to underwrite a $10,000 series of summer concerts that was facing extinction, Cuccia said.
It was a choice between finding corporate funds or killing the concerts at Downs Park in Pasadena and Quiet Waters Park near Annapolis, he said.
Ocean City has a $1.1 million-a-year deal making Coca-Cola the resort town's official drink, and Carroll County officials have signed an agreement giving Coke exclusive rights to sell soft drinks at the new Carroll County Sports Complex near Westminster, in exchange for funding a $17,000 electronic scrolling scoreboard.
Officials in most counties say they have not seriously considered renaming parks, as was the case with the $105.5 million deal announced in January to name the Baltimore Ravens stadium PSINet Stadium at Camden Yards.
In Baltimore County, officials say they don't see anything like that happening soon.
Baltimore County officials began looking into corporate sponsorships last fall when a partnership formed by the Orioles and area Saturn dealers offered to donate $26,000 to rebuild fields at Hannah More Park in Reisterstown. The County Council balked at accepting the donation because there was no policy for accepting corporate gifts.
Weber and other county officials declined last week to release the proposed policy, which they have been working on since October. Elise Armacost, a county spokeswoman, said there is no deadline or date set for submitting the policy to the County Council.
Weber said some businesses, such as tobacco or liquor dealers, would be inappropriate as sponsors at parks frequented by youths. The appropriateness of sponsors will probably be decided case by case, he said.