The Collinsville Area Recreation District recently voted to accept sealed bids for a private company to do grass mowing in the district. It was the first step in a process to explore outsourcing many district functions.

CARD Board of Commissioners President David Tanzyus said no decision has been made to outsource any service yet, but the board has an obligation to explore its options as it looks for ways to save money.

“You need to look at it,” Tanzyus said. “If we don’t turn that stone over, we haven’t done our job.”

The exploration into outsourcing current district work will start with mowing. Lawnmowers are expensive, break easily and there are not many places that repair them, Tanzyus said. The lost time of employees to deal with the fragile equipment adds unnecessary cost to operations, Tanzyus said.

The idea to outsource mowing came from Maryville Mayor Larry Gulledge, Tanzyus said.

“Maryville does it, and they saved 30-40 percent, which didn’t even cover the lost time aspect,” Tanzyus said. “He (Gulledge) rattled off three or four other towns that did it while we were talking.”

Tanzyus could not remember the names of the other towns. Maryville has put the mowing of its parks and other public properties out for bid for about the past four years, Maryville Village Clerk and Treasurer Jolene Henry said. She is unsure how much the village saves with the practice, deferring comment to the mayor.

Gulledge, who has been an outspoken critic of Maryville’s participation in CARD and, in 2011, played a key role in attempting to have the village removed from the district, was on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

CARD has not yet determined how much mowing currently costs the district. Sealed bids for the mowing services contract for the districts’ parks and properties are due at the district office by May 16. After the bids are received and an estimate of the current cost is determined, the commissioners will determine how to move forward, Tanzyus said.

Jason Poole, assistant director of parks in Belleville, said the district, which is part of the City of Belleville, explored the option of having a private company cut the grass for the district about 10 years ago, but, after a cost saving analysis was performed, it was determined that it was not cheaper to privatize.

The potential impact on current staff is unclear. Interim Executive Director Susan Zaber said the full-time staff, who may be impacted by the decision, have been told that mowing bids are being accepted.

Superintendent of Parks, Kevin Brown, said that his six full-time workers, and any part-timers he will be able to hire, do much more than cut grass and that losing another full-time worker would be difficult.

“The problem is, once that service is over, I don’t have those guys in the winter,” Brown said. “It’s kind of a new challenge.”

Tanzyus said the cuts would come from part-time workers hired for the spring and summer seasons. Because the current fiscal year budget did not provide for seasonal parks employees, none were hired, Tanzyus said.

Although there was not enough money in the original budget to hire part-time workers, the money exists now through a combination of surpluses in other funds, staff reductions and the commissioners not being as strict about transferring money between funds, Tanzyus said.

“We will still follow normal accounting practices (for parks districts),” Tanzyus said about transferring money between funds. “But, as you get deeper into this, you learn the process and begin refining it.” Tanzyus has been a commissioner since 2011.

One source of additional funds is Arlington Greens Golf Course. Although the numbers have not yet been approved, the reported figures for the fiscal year ending April 30 show revenues exceeding expenses by about $112,000, up from about $4,500 the previous year. The operating profit does not take into account the bond repayment on the golf course.

The golf course may be the next target for outsourcing. Board member Mark Achenbach has said in the past that an outside management company may be able to run Arlington Greens better than current manager, Mark Marcuzzo. Achenbach pointed to declining revenues as one example of where he feels there is room for improvement.

Although revenue has generally declined since Marcuzzo took over the course in 2009, expenses have declined even further. In the current fiscal year, expenses continued their decline while revenue increased.

If there is a management company that believes they can do better with Arlington Greens, they have yet to identify themselves.

“We sent out performance information to management companies to see if they can do better,” Tanzyus said. “We haven’t gotten a lot of response, yet. It might be an awkward time of year.”

Marcuzzo said the course was in poor shape when he took over management of it and, after a large early investment, the improved course is starting to pay dividends. According to CARD records, course revenues have exceeded expenses for the past two years.

“When you come into a place that’s down, it takes a few years to turn it around,” Marcuzzo said.

Tanzyus said he was not aware of any companies that could take over day-to-day operations of Splash City, so he did not know to what extent the Board would pursue outsourcing at the water park. Midwest Pool Management was responsible for the day-to-day operations of Splash City during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. They are based in Maryland Heights and are still operational.

The goal of outsourcing is not a step toward disbanding CARD, Tanzyus said. It is an attempt to save money.

“We want to maintain or enhance quality,” Tanzyus said. “That’s their (the Boards) heart for this thing.”