Recreation District No. 3 must think Concordia Parish children are the ritzy type.

That’s the only explanation for spending nearly a million dollars on land for the children to run on, fall down on, slide on and spit on.

Sure, recreation is important. And children are a No. 1 priority.

But spending $17,000 an acre on land for a recreation facility seems too pricey.

The recreation district receives tax dollars so they can spend them on our children. But the dollars are still the hard-earned dough of parish taxpayers. They should be spent wisely.

The recreation district needs to publicly share their reasoning behind the purchase of this land. They need to outline a plan of what any future facilities would include. And they need to estimate future expenses for the site.

Spending $17,000 an acre only buys the land. It doesn’t build the ball field, cut the grass or construct a concession stand.

When recreation officials weren’t on hand to answer questions at a public hearing Monday night, they left a bad impression.

Police jurors said even they didn’t know enough about the district’s plans to go forward.

The public hearing needs to be rescheduled, advertised and conducted soon.

Taxpayers need to hear plans for their money before the red carpet lining the baseball diamond is laid.