Everybody should have this problem: what to do with $85 million bucks in the bank.

Six times in the past few decades, park-loving Santa Clara County residents voted to keep using a sliver of their property taxes to buy and maintain parkland and open spaces.


Now, a new audit reveals that all those slivers have really added up – and pose a dilemma for the Santa Clara County parks and recreation department: what to do with roughly $85 million in cash – enough to meet its basic expenses for about three years.


The fact that the county department is sitting on such a fat savings account at a time when other county and city departments are bleeding for lack of money came as a surprise to park lovers and open-space advocates.

Three years of expenses in the bank, and we’re getting hit up for $6 to park in the county parks? This story did frost me just a little bit.