Will Rye Town Park Turn a Profit This Year?

When it comes to Rye Town Park, the million dollar fiscal question is: Are they or aren't they going to make money, lose money or break even as the end of the season approaches.

The park lost around $100,000 on a budget of approximately $1 million last year, but it's still too soon to tell whether it will finish this year in the black. No one will know until the final beach attendance figures and parking revenue totals come in this month. But there are constants in the form of the expenses that it takes to run the park, some predictable and some not, that give insights into the financial picture.

The jury is still out about whether the park's new parking policies—including differential pricing for residents and non-residents and a reduction in the number of parking spaces by more than 250—will bring the anticipated financial rewards. However, there are some clues in the Rye Town Park Commission income and expense statements for the six-month period ending July 31, 2010 (the latest figures available) that point to exactly what the end result could be.

The numbers and categories may surprise you.

For example:

1. Salaries

So far in 2010, the park has spent more than $334,000 on salaries.

The park has spent $28,844 on salaries for its park directors during the first six months of this year, while salaries for foremen have amounted to slightly more than $20,000.

The park has spent nearly quadruple that on groundsmen, at $82,999, while it has spent more than $48,000 and $63,000, respectively, for security guards and lifeguards. Cashiers have cost the park more than $58,000, while salaries for attendants so far this year have come in at close to $32,800.

2. Administrative

The park spent $78,491 on administrative costs, which includes professional fees, accounting and attorney's costs, an amount that totaled $23,450 in the first half of 2010. Insurance fees cost the park $54, 550, while office-related expenses totaled slightly less than $500. 

3. Benefits

Like any other business, the park also has to account for the costs of benefits, which is no small sum. That amount totaled more than $42,200 so far this year.

Social Security expenses cost the park about $26,300, while Worker's Compensation added on another $3,000. The cost for Medical insurance amounted to just under $13,000.

4. Operations and Maintenance

For operations and maintenance, a category that includes repairs to buildings and grounds, the park spent more $108,704 in the first half of 2010. Building and grounds repairs totaled more than $54,600. Beach supplies, refuse removal, uniforms, concerts and events account for the rest of the six-figure expense. 

5. Miscellaneous Expenses

The park also pays various expenses, such as utilities, taxes and interest. Telephone expenses for the first half of 2010 were a bit more than the average household, to say the least, at more than $3,300 to be exact. Utilities were even pricier at just under $11,100. A sewer tax cost the park slightly less than $30,000. That amounts to a $44,164 total for these expenses.

But these expenses can't be put into perspective without revenue figures, which include rental and concession income ($67,531), permits ($60,330), parking fees ($236,051) and mid-gate admission ($220,598). So, the park has raked in total revenues of $733,833 halfway through 2010, not bad considering it only generated more than $603, 000 during the same period last year.

So, what's the bottom line?

If the numbers are any indication, Rye Town Park may finish in the black this year, with expenditures of $608,236 compared to revenues of just under $734,000. So far the park has netted around a $125,000 profit, a figure that satisfies park officials.

"We're proceeding on a sound business model with a solid business plan and it seems to be working," according to Bishop Nowotnik, a park administrator who is also special assistant to Rye Town Supervisor and Rye Town Park Commission Chairman Joseph Carvin.

"Nothing is written in stone, but the new policy of differential pricing for residents over non-residents and reduced parking on the lawn as a safety, environmental and ecological measure is working," Carvin said at the end of June.

Carvin also said at the time that the changes have eased the tax burden for the 60,000 residents—including those in Rye City, Rye Brook, Rye Neck and Port Chester—whose taxes pay for the park for the enjoyment of the estimated 87 percent of park patrons who are from outside the area.

"Our goal is to at least break even, if not make money through the implementation of sound business procedures at Rye Town Park that will help improve safety as well as accountability," said Rye City Mayor Doug French, one of three area mayors on the Rye Town Park Commission that also includes Mayors Dennis Pilla of Port Chester and Joan Feinstein of Rye Brook.

French said the park may have had its best season ever, based on the latest June-July figures and his on-site monitoring of the park's beach and parking turnouts during that period. He predicts Rye Town Park will at least break even, maybe even nudge into the black by season's end after losing around $100,000 last year.

John Ambrose and Sammy Chernin, co-owners of Seaside Johnnies, the seaside restaurant facing Oakland Beach, argue that the park's losses will be worse than last year based on word-of-mouth from customers, their own observations of what looks like decreased beach attendance and parking, and the fact that their business is down substantially due to the park's increased pricing and decreased parking, a measure implemented this year that both Ambrose and Chernin called elitist and argued would hurt their bottom line.

Only time will tell who is right.