Parks, Trails & Recreation Master Plan

The consulting team and the City of Shakopee identified operating metrics to benchmark against comparable park and recreation systems. The goal of the analysis is to evaluate how Shakopee is positioned among peer agencies as it applies to efficiency and effectiveness practices. The benchmark assessment is organized into specific categories and asks questions to obtain data that offers an encompassing view of each system’s operating metrics in comparison to the City of Shakopee. The goal of this analysis is ensuring direct comparison through a methodology of statistics and ratios in order to provide accurate information and an objective analysis. Please note, the benchmark analysis is only an indicator based on the information provided. Information used in this analysis was obtained directly from each participating agency. In addition to the peer comparison, the analysis also incorporated nationwide best practices and information from NRPA’s PRORAGIS database, when possible. The information sought was a combination of operating metrics that factor budgets, staffing levels, and inventories. In some instances, the information was not tracked or not available. All comparative cities are regional peers from the Metropolitan Council Counties. In general, the benchmark agencies have fairly similar service area characteristics to the City of Shakopee, with the exception that Shakopee, Chanhassen, and Inver Grove Heights have lower densities and are still growing. BENCHMARK ANALYSIS

Due to differences in how each system collects, maintains and reports data, variances exist. These variations have an impact on the per capita and percentage allocations within the budget, and the overall comparison must be viewed with this in mind. The benchmark data collection for all systems was complete as of Spring 2019, with the understanding that it is possible that information may have changed since the original date it was collected. In some instances, data was unavailable at the time of this study. The team worked closely with other communities to obtain the most credible information possible. A full study of the benchmark communities can be found in Appendix A. The following highlights where Shakopee compares to their benchmark communities including where they are doing well, average, and need improvement compared to competitive cities. This analysis is a tool that allows the city to gauge if the park system is helping or hurting the city’s ability to attract residents, businesses, and investment to the community. Parks and trails have been shown to be a differentiator between communities for where people choose to live. Millennials are one of the first generations to highly value experience of their living area compared to the proximity of job center.

SHAKOPEE PARKS, TRAILS, AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN | NEEDS ASSESSMENT 88