A draft report from a consultant hired last year to search for revenue to maintain Brooklyn Bridge Park without building waterfront high-rise apartment buildings said yesterday that $1 million to $4 million to the park's $16 million maintenance budget could come from a new tax on residents and business owners within a quarter of a mile of the park, according to an article today in The Brooklyn Paper by Laura Gottesdiener.

The article said that "construction of housing and other revenue-generating uses stems from a 2002 agreement between the city and state that the $350-million park raise its own maintenance budget so it would not be a drain on city coffers. But the proposed 20- to 30-floor luxury high-rises have long been the 1.3-mile waterfront development's most controversial feature, so last year, park planners created a Committee on Alternatives to Housing."

On Tuesday, the committee's consultant issued a draft report that found $2.5 million to $7 million in new revenues, including the controversial new park improvement district, which would extend from Furman Street to as far east as Henry Street and as far north as Bridge Street in DUMBO, the article said.

State Senator Daniel Squadron (Democrat from Brooklyn Heights) said, however, that "the Park Improvement District they proposed is not going to happen," adding that "there are viable alternatives to the current plan" to include housing in the park.

The article said that the consultant did not consider a proposal being pushed by Squadron that would capture tax revenue created when several currently tax-exempt Jehovah's Witness-owned buildings are sold and return to the rolls. Squadron is pushing the consultant to consider such revenue before the end of the report's 60-day "public comment period." "The most-important alternative revenue source has not yet been studied: tapping into the 2.8-million-square feet of nearby Watchtower properties," he said.

In addition to the $4 million maximum revenue that could be raised by a park improvement district, the article said that the consultant identified $3 million in revenues that could be raised by $230,000 to $440,000 from parking fees, $40,000 to $365,000 from creating more concessions, $250,000 by changing the proposed residential buildings to offices, and $600,000 by charging sports enthusiasts more to use the park's proposed recreation facilities.

A public hearing on the report will be held at St. Francis College [180 Remsen St. between Clinton and Court streets in DUMBO, (718) 222-9216 on March 31 at 6 PM.