Meet Lincoln: A Department Doing More with Less
The City of Lincoln’s Parks and Recreation Department serves a vibrant community of 54,500+ in the Sacramento region, with a reputation for high quality youth programming, aquatics, and facility rentals. Led by Recreation Manager Doug Brown, who has almost 24 years in the department and over a decade of experience managing it, Lincoln’s Parks & Rec department has successfully weathered economic challenges while continuing to serve their community's recreational needs.
Like many Parks and Rec departments across the country, Lincoln operates with a lean team. After the 2008 recession hit, staff was reduced to just four full-time employees, meaning everyone has to do more with less. Despite these constraints, Doug and his team have found ways to provide exceptional recreational opportunities while meeting the city's mandate to recover costs and generate revenue.
The Paper Trail Problem: When Simple Bookings Became Bureaucratic Nightmares
Historically, Lincoln's facility rental process was a textbook example of bureaucratic friction. Every picnic shelter reservation required residents to navigate a multi-step process that was as frustrating for staff as it was for community members:
- Residents had to submit a paper application (either printed and handwritten or filled out as a PDF)
- Staff had to manually review each application
- Applications needed to be scheduled on the city calendar
- Payment arrangements had to be made separately
- Staff had to file and track each application manually
- The entire process required multiple touchpoints and significant administrative overhead
"We weren't doing any court rentals before Rec," Doug explains. "For picnic rentals, somebody had to submit an application. We'd have to review the application, get it on our calendar, and arrange for payment. It was just a lot of extra work."
Where the Old System Failed: Death by a Thousand (Paper) Cuts
The manual process created significant challenges on multiple fronts:
Administrative Burden: With a small team already stretched thin, the time-intensive application review process pulled staff away from other important duties.
Doug notes, "Everybody is stretched pretty thin. However, whatever we can do to streamline things and make things easier [is] very helpful for us.”
Accessibility Barriers: The paper-based system created unnecessary friction for residents. Many people would print out applications, handwrite them, scan them, and email them back…a process that likely deterred many potential users, including those without access to printers or desktop computers.
Revenue Limitations: This cumbersome process made it difficult to maximize facility utilization, and thus, revenue. When booking a picnic shelter requires multiple steps and paperwork, fewer people follow through with reservations, and less money is earned for the city.
The Mission: Streamline Everything, Serve Everyone Better
Lincoln discovered Rec Technologies through a colleague at the City of Rocklin, who was already using the platform for pickleball court reservations. The timing was perfect: Lincoln had recently opened new pickleball courts and was looking for a better way to manage facility rentals.
The opening of these new courts were the catalyst for Lincoln to take a good, hard look and prioritize better processes. A new mission surfaced:
- Streamline the facility rental process to reduce administrative burden
- Increase facility utilization and revenue generation
- Improve accessibility for community members
- Support the city's mandate for Parks and Rec to recover costs and "pay for themselves"
What sealed the deal for Lincoln was Rec's ability to eliminate the administrative overhead while making the process seamless for residents. The platform offered exactly what they needed: a way to automate the entire booking and payment process without requiring additional staff resources.
The Transformation: From Paper Nightmares to Digital Dreams
The transformation was immediate and dramatic. Within just one year of implementing Rec Technologies, Lincoln has seen remarkable improvements across multiple metrics.
Revenue Explosion: 4x Growth in Facility Rentals
The most striking result was the massive increase in facility rental revenue. "We've definitely seen an uptick in picnic reservations," Doug explains. "A lot of it has to do with because it's easy for the customer, our citizens, to rent a facility. Scan the code and create an account and reserve! Book it and pay for it all right there."
The numbers tell the story:
- 30-40% increase just from launch to first quarter
- 4x overall increase compared to the previous manual process
Better yet: All new revenue flows directly to the general fund, supporting the department's cost recovery goals.
Administrative Efficiency Revolution
The platform eliminated virtually all manual processes related to facility rentals:
- No more application reviews
- No more manual calendar management
- No more separate payment processing
- No more filing and tracking paperwork
"Now no applications to review," Doug notes. "I don't have to take money, review applications, file the application. It’s just been so nice.”
Enhanced Community Access
This digital-first approach removed barriers that previously prevented residents from booking facilities. The QR code system makes it possible for anyone with a smartphone to reserve and pay for facilities on the spot. No paperwork, no trips to city hall, no checks required.
💡Parks Personalities:
We love getting to know our partners on a more personal level, and hearing what dream community events look like to them. When we asked Doug what he'd love to host at his favorite park, his answer got us excited: “A beer fest”. Now that's the kind of community celebration that brings people together.
The Ripple Effect: When Better Systems Create Better Communities
Today, the City of Lincoln operates with a fundamentally different approach to facility management. The Parks and Rec team can focus on what they do best — creating programming and serving the community, rather than getting bogged down in manual tasks.
The success has been so significant that Doug enthusiastically recommends the platform to other departments. When asked about advice for other Parks and Rec leaders considering a switch, his message is clear: the streamlined process benefits everyone.
Revenue continues to flow back into the general fund, supporting not just Parks and Recreation but all city services. This aligns perfectly with the post-recession reality that municipal departments need to continually demonstrate their value and contribute to cost recovery.
Most importantly, Lincoln residents now have access to city facilities in a way that matches their expectations for digital services. They can book a picnic shelter as easily as they order takeout or book a ride, exactly what modern communities expect from their local government.
The transformation at Lincoln proves that even smaller Parks and Rec departments can deliver consumer-grade digital experiences while dramatically improving their operational efficiency and revenue generation. Sometimes the biggest changes come from simply removing the friction that was always there.
Ready to bring your rentals online? Rec can help. Connect with us here to talk about bringing Rec to your city.
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