State funds intended for outdoor recreation are paying for several indoor projects — including about $4 million for an indoor pool, auditors found.

The Department of Natural Resources has been using Program Open Space funding for “numerous” indoor projects, from community centers to golf course building renovations, according to a state audit released Thursday.

“It’s kind of a legal question,” Bruce Myers, an auditor at the Office of Legislative Audits, said of the interpretation of how Program Open Space dollars are spent.

Program Open Space, funded through the state transfer tax, is divided into local grants for recreational facilities and state funding for land preservation.

This story continues below
Advertisement

Local grants helped purchase land for the first indoor aquatic center being built in Calvert County, DNR officials said.

Although most open space money is spent on outdoor projects, the question is whether it all should, Myers said.

DNR officials and open space advocates say indoor facilities fall within the intent of the law, but auditors recommended DNR stick to outdoor facilities until they get an opinion from the attorney general.

“Counsel to the Maryland General Assembly advised us that the use of POS funds for indoor recreational facilities does not appear to be consistent with the aforementioned laws governing the funds,” according to the audit.

Kristine Saunders Evans, assistant secretary for land resources at DNR, said this audit was the first time the issue has been raised, and “we were frankly surprised by it.”

Local grants are given based on formulas, and counties develop park and recreation plans, Evans said. The state Board of Public Works then approves the funding.

“It’s a very public process developed at the local level [and] reviewed at the state,” she said.

DNR Deputy Secretary Eric Schwaab said the indoor projects built with open space money are still for recreation and tend to support an outdoor facility. He added that for years under the previous administration, more than $480 million was diverted to unrelated uses.

However, Schwaab recognized there was a legitimate debate around how this money is spent and that there could be room for interpretation of the law.

“We certainly are willing to go back to the legislature and seek clarification” during the 2009 session, he said.

Open space advocates disagreed with the audit, saying the money was not being misspent.

“The original concept of the law was for recreation, both outdoor and indoor,” said Tom Ross, executive director of the Maryland Recreation and Parks Association, a nonprofit advocacy group.

“It is absolutely essential that we have a funding stream that helps provide the facilities at the local level.”

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com