Here is something to ponder as the city and county venture into budget cuts:

It’s interesting how Freeborn County residents were willing to fork up the dough for a jail that we don’t seem to have enough local criminals to fill. We have to contract with the federal government just to find prisoners to put in it.

However, now that the state is slashing local-government aid, park funding is a large part of what’s on the chopping block.

It costs an average of $30,000 a year to keep a person incarcerated for a year, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The people forming budgets should consider this statement from The Trust for Public Land: “Although criminologists have found no way to measure directly how much crime is caused by a lack of open space and recreation opportunities, plenty of evidence shows that crime frequently drops — sometimes dramatically — when these things are improved. Yet investments in parks and open space have generally been considered a low priority. As cities continue to witness rising crime and urban distress, it is becoming increasingly clear that support for parks and recreation is not a luxury — it is an investment in our own security and health and the stability of our cities.”

And consider this from the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association:

“Research conducted by the Hamilton Community Foundation and the Children’s Mental Health Division of Health Canada found that recreation and child care pays for itself by reductions in the use of probation officers, minus 10 percent; Children’s Aid Society, minus 50 percent; 911 services, minus 50 percent; social workers, minus 10 percent; and psychologists, minus 50 percent.”

Considering the savings parks and recreation programs provide to cities, particularly down the road, it isn’t wise to reduce their funding, particularly in an economic downtown.

We either pay now or pay later.