The Economic Impact of the Hamilton County Park District on Hamilton County
Prepared for:
The Hamilton County Park District The Hamilton County Park District is the most popular family attraction in the Cincinnati Tri-state area. It works to preserve and protect local natural resources, while providing outdoor recreation and environmental education for Hamilton County citizens and other visitors. As a result, it is a major contributor to the region’s quality of life, making Hamilton County an attractive place to live and work. In addition, it creates economic benefits for numerous households and businesses in Hamilton County through its employment and business activity.
This report estimates the economic impact of the Park District on Hamilton County’s employment, household earnings, and business sales for 2003. The impact of the Hamilton County Park District on Hamilton County is multi-faceted. Through its spending on operations and continuing development, its contracted services, and spending by visitors from outside the area, it benefits the Hamilton County economy. Although other benefits generated by the Park District—environmental improvement, flood protection, increased property values and improved quality of life—also have an economic dimension, their economic impact is not included in this analysis.
Total Economic Impact
- The total economic impact of the Hamilton County Park District is $80.06 million. This includes a household earnings impact of $20.60 million. The total impact on employment in Hamilton County is 1,293 jobs.
- Together, these economic activities generated nearly three quarters of a million dollars annually in local sales, earnings, and property tax revenue. This includes more than $430,000 for Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati in sales and earnings taxes, and another $300,000 in property taxes for Hamilton County jurisdictions.
- When the total economic impact of $80.06 million is compared with The Hamilton County Park District’s tax levy funding of $18.15 million for operations and construction, it results in an overall economic multiplier of 4.41, which means that every $100 in taxpayer support helps generate $441 of economic impact.
Sources of Economic Impact
- The economic impact of the Hamilton County Park District operations accounts for $50.96 million of the total economic impact, which generates $14.28 million in household income and supports 967 full- and part-time jobs.
- The economic impact of the Hamilton County Park District capital expenditures for construction accounts for $14.48 million of the total economic impact, which generates $3.09 million in household income and supports 149 full- and part-time jobs.
- Related spending by out-of-county visitors on dining, lodging, and other purchases, accounts for another $14.62 million of the total economic impact, which generates $3.23 million in household income, and supports 177 full- and part-time jobs.
Attendance
- The total attendance of the Hamilton County Park District in 2003 was 8.08 million, which makes it by far the most popular outdoor and family attraction in the Cincinnati region.
New Money
- Through attraction of visitors from outside the county, the Hamilton County Park District brings $12.50 million in new money into the county, replenishing and expanding the Hamilton County economy.
- In 2003, the Park District also brought $840,000 into Hamilton County in revenues from grants and other non-local funding sources.
Additional Economic Activity
- Hamilton County Park District also contributes to the local economy by retaining $30.48 million in county-resident spending and related economic activity that would otherwise occur in association with visits to similar recreational facilities outside of Hamilton County.
Hamilton County residents and visitors together spend $37.36 million in connection with their park visits. As a result, every $100 invested by taxpayers in the Hamilton County Park District not only helps to preserve natural resources and provide outdoor recreation, it also results in $206 in related spending within Hamilton County.
“The UC case study on the impact of our signs was simple to participate in. The researchers were knowledgeable and easy to work with. Their requests were concise and respectful of our time. They reported findings in a manner that protected the confidentiality of our financial numbers.”- 
“The Economics Center has proven to be a great partner and an excellent resource to Cadmus. Their knowledge about the local community and economy—coupled with their analytic capabilities—have been important components of our evaluation and very well received by our client. We look forward to our continued collaboration with the Center.”- 
Julie has extensive experience in labor economics, particularly applying statistical methods to decision-making. She is proud to be a part of a professional, creative research team that brings a variety of approaches to addressing the issues of the larger community. - 
“The Economics Center partnered with ACEEE in providing a first-of-its-kind market study on the potential for energy efficiency investment in Greater Cincinnati. As a non-profit organization that has attracted nearly $20m of public and private investment in three years, we believed the Market Study is a critical building block in helping us achieve our goals.”- 
George’s major focus areas are regional economics and human capital. With his colleagues at the Economics Center, he continues to apply lessons learned in those fields to economic development and workforce development.
“We needed to communicate the value of our institution in the local community and the Economics Center’s economic impact analysis helped us accomplish that goal. They were very easy to work with and met our expectations. We will certainly utilize their services for economic analysis in the future and would recommend them to others.”- 
“We understand that great economic analyses is valuable only to the extent to which it can be understood and utilized. That is why our approach converges the science of research and the art of storytelling.”- 
Jeff has worked with leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, designing and implementing economic development and research projects in response to diverse community issues.
“We're very pleased with the results of this study. Often times, when people think about arts and culture organizations, they do not take into account the economic benefits that come with the educational and entertainment benefits. That was one of our main goals when commissioning this project." 
“The Economics Center brings analytical expertise and valuable insights that helps our clients to develop and, then, communicate key messages. The research team understands we are in a world increasingly dependent on data for decision making. The Center is an important partner in our business and a valuable resource to our community.” - 
“As a research-based organization, Cincinnati Works relies heavily on the type of data and analysis the Economic Center provides. Their ability to analyze economic trends and assess the impact they have on job seekers and workforce development is valuable to the work that we do here at Cincinnati Works.” 
“The TIF Model is intuitive, easy and flexible for report to the Township Trustees to help them understand the resources that Deerfield Township may have available. The Trustees really appreciate having a tool that can inform planning for the future, beyond the upcoming year.” 
“The Center worked to understand our community and our needs. They developed a set of custom economic indicators for Newaygo County, MI. We believe that this information is critical for expressing unique assets of our community and in making important decisions for our economic vitality.” -