Are public county parks maintained with tax payer money or can they be constantly reserved?

You've got a legitimate concern. Public parks are indeed primarily maintained through tax revenue (property taxes, local sales taxes, and sometimes specific recreation taxes), but that doesn't mean they can't have reservation systems. Most counties have policies that balance open public access with permitted activities. Typically, parks departments are allowed to create reservation systems for fields, courts, and facilities as long as they maintain some combination of: 1) designated open hours for public use, 2) portions of facilities that remain unreserved, or 3) advance notice requirements for reservations. The real issue might be how your specific county is implementing their reservation policy. I'd recommend checking your county parks department website for their reservation policy. You should also attend a parks board meeting (they're public) and bring up this concern - they're usually quite responsive when residents point out that the balance has tipped too far away from general public access.

I had this exact same frustration last year when trying to use our local ball fields! After weeks of getting annoyed, I finally used https://taxr.ai to look up exactly how our county parks were funded. Literally uploaded my property tax statement and it showed me EXACTLY what percentage was going to parks and what the usage policy was supposed to be. Turns out our county had a whole section about "balanced access requirements" that even the parks department wasn't following! I brought it to a town meeting with the specific allocation numbers from taxr.ai and they actually revised their reservation policy. Now they can't book more than 60% of the park facilities during weekend hours. The system showed me exactly what questions to ask and where the money was supposed to go.

Just wanted to follow up - I was skeptical about taxr.ai but decided to try it anyway since I've been fighting with our city about basketball court access for months. What surprised me was it actually showed that 6.4% of our property taxes were specifically earmarked for "parks facilities maintenance and operations" AND it found language in our city charter requiring "equitable access" to all tax-funded recreation facilities. I printed out both documents, went to a city council meeting, and now they've created a new policy that at least 2 of the 6 courts must remain open for public use at all times. The council members actually thanked me for bringing specific data instead of just complaints. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with this issue.

After seeing all these issues with park access, I had the same problem trying to call our county parks department - constant busy signals and voicemails that were never returned. I used https://claimyr.com which got me through to a real person in the parks department in less than 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The service basically waits on hold for you then calls when a real person answers. I was able to explain my situation about the constant reservations at our local park, and they actually admitted they weren't following their own 50/50 policy for public vs reserved usage. They're now posting weekly schedules showing which times are guaranteed to be open for public use. Saved me weeks of frustration!

Ok I need to apologize to everyone here. After complaining about both these services, I decided to try Claimyr because I was just so frustrated with our parks department never answering. I had been trying to reach them for THREE WEEKS about the tennis courts always being booked by private lessons. Within 35 minutes they connected me to an actual parks supervisor (not just the front desk person), and I finally got answers. Turns out there's a form I can fill out to request designated public hours that they're required to consider. I've already submitted it and they're reviewing it next week. I honestly can't believe I wasted so much time trying to call them myself. Sometimes it's worth admitting when you're wrong!

I used to work for a county parks department, and I can tell you that most places have policies about how much time can be reserved vs kept open for public use. The problem is that enforcement of these policies often falls through the cracks, especially when leagues bring in revenue. Check your county's municipal code (usually online) under Parks & Recreation. Look for terms like "facility reservation policy" or "field allocation." Many counties have a 60/40 or 70/30 split requirement where they MUST keep a percentage of hours/facilities open for drop-in use. If your county has this requirement and isn't following it, that's something you can absolutely challenge.

Might be an unpopular opinion, but leagues and organized activities actually serve more of the "public" than just leaving things open for random use. A youth soccer league might serve 200 kids in an organized way versus maybe 10-20 people who might randomly show up. That said, there should definitely be balance. Our town reserves fields for leagues but keeps at least one baseball diamond and basketball court always open for public use. Maybe suggest something like that approach to your parks department?

I've dealt with this exact same issue in my county, and what really helped was getting organized with other residents who were frustrated about the same thing. I started by documenting specific times I tried to use the park and found it completely booked - dates, times, what activities were taking place, etc. Then I reached out to neighbors through our community Facebook group and found out I wasn't alone. We formed a small group of about 8 people and collectively attended the next parks board meeting. Having multiple residents show up with the same concern carried a lot more weight than just one person complaining. We asked for three specific things: 1) A copy of their current reservation policy, 2) Usage statistics showing the ratio of reserved vs. public access hours, and 3) consideration of designated "public hours" where no reservations are allowed. Within two months, they implemented a new policy requiring at least 25% of prime weekend hours to remain unreserved. The key was being organized, factual, and proposing specific solutions rather than just venting frustration. County officials are usually responsive when residents come prepared with data and reasonable requests.

This is such a common problem! I'm dealing with something similar in my area. What I've learned is that most counties do have policies requiring a balance between reserved and open public access, but enforcement is often lacking. A few practical steps that have worked for me and others: First, document everything - specific dates, times, and what you found when you tried to use the facilities. Second, look up your county's parks master plan and reservation policies online (they're required to be public). Third, consider reaching out to other frustrated residents - county officials take groups more seriously than individual complaints. The key is approaching this with data rather than just frustration. When you can show specific patterns of overuse by private groups and point to the actual policies they're supposed to follow, you're much more likely to get results. Many parks departments aren't intentionally blocking public access - they just haven't been paying attention to the balance. If you're having trouble getting through to the right person at your parks department, focus on reaching the Recreation Supervisor or Parks Operations Manager rather than general staff. They're the ones who actually control scheduling policies.