The city of Jacksonville wants to own the Jackson County park where the Britt Festivals summer concerts have been staged since 1963.

A Feb. 9 letter from Jacksonville Mayor Jim Lewis to county officials proposes transferring the Britt Gardens title, maintenance responsibilities and ticket-tax revenues to the city.

The letter suggests transferring the park to the city could help the county reduce its expenditures during a time when it faces a multi-million-dollar budget shortfall.

"Since we are now in the process of revising the city/county Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for the Britt Park and the county is searching for savings in all of its areas of responsibility, this is an opportune time to explore a transfer that would convert the Gardens from a county park to a city park," wrote Lewis.

If the city were to assume ownership of the property, it would also assume all of the responsibilities of both Britt's conditional use permit and the intergovernmental agreement, Lewis said.

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The county currently receives $3 per ticket from Britt concerts, and the money is used to maintain the 4.5-acre property where pioneer photographer Peter Britt lived until his death in 1905. (See correction below) His house burned in a 1960 fire.

In December Jacksonville enacted a $2 per ticket tax designed to help finance the city's newly-created parks, recreation and visitors services fund. If the Britt Grounds were transferred to Jacksonville, the city would collect both fees, said City Administrator Paul Wyntergreen.

Lewis said the money could be used to enhance the Britt Gardens and attract even more visitors to the historic Gold Rush town, Lewis said.

Jackson County Commissioner C.W. Smith said county officials had not yet had an opportunity to review the proposal, but they will probably discuss it next week.

He said the county would not make any property transfer decision without first consulting Britt Festivals officials.

"The folks at Britt need to be included in any decision," he said. "Britt is a regional issue."

Britt Festivals officials had not yet seen a copy of the city's request.

"We are not clear on the details of the proposal," said Kelly Gonzales, Britt's director of marketing and public relations.

"But we look forward to hearing more about this potentially interesting offer," she said. "Of course we will continue to keep the best interests of Britt Festivals and our constituents in mind along the way."

Jacksonville has supported its symbiotic relationship with Britt for decades, said Wyntergreen.

"For a long time we've talked about having a closer relationship with Britt," he said.

Transferring the park to the city "wouldn't change the Britt at all," he said, noting that the Britt property would still function as a park.

He said the transfer might lighten the workload for Britt officials since they would have to talk with only one government agency instead of two.

"It's something we've simply floated as an idea," said Wyntergreen. "But if the county doesn't want to go there, then we won't go there."

Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail sspecht@mailtribune.com.

Correction: The original version of this story included an incorrect date for Peter Britt's death. Return to sentence with error