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Recreation officials report rising participation, push scholarship and program investments
Summary
Recreation staff told council FY2026 operating requests support growing participation, improved seasonal staff retention and targeted program funding; small, nonrecurring contracts and fee adjustments were proposed for golf and camp partners.
Dan Kroger, recreation division manager, summarized the Recreation Division’s FY2026 operating and capital priorities, telling the council the division’s staff and partners have increased program access and participation since the post-pandemic decline.
Kroger said employee retention has improved: “68% of our staff that worked for us last year are already committed to coming back to us this year,” he said. The department also reported a 13% increase in applicants through March and rising winter participation totals; Kroger said winter registrants exceeded 1,000 this year for the first time since the pandemic-related drops.
Program access and subsidies: The department operates a scholarship program that provides up to $150 in registration credit per qualifying household; Kroger said roughly $21,000 in scholarship dollars were redeemed in the preceding year. Staff described partnerships—Creative Adventure Lab, Miracle League, AmeriCorps and local nonprofits—that expand low-cost or free programming, food access for playground participants and other services.
Recommended improvement requests and revenue items: The packet included three notable items: a correction to the Bunker Hill Golf Course pro position (adjusting the FTE from 0.94 to 1.0 to formalize a prior contractual conversion), a one-time contract to support the 4 Mounds adventure camp this summer (to cover a gap created by shifting CDBG eligibility) and a recurring proposal to raise a daily golf fee by $1 that staff estimated could produce up to $48,000 annually for the golf fund. Kroger said the golf fee increase would be part of a standard alternating review of passes and daily fees.
Facilities and operations: Staff highlighted recent capital work such as new filtration systems at both city pools and upgrades at golf-course facilities; Kroger noted the department’s work to collect program data and change schedules to match participant demand—for example increasing evening swim-lesson slots after analysis showed higher evening demand and larger evening class sizes.
What’s next: The division will continue outreach tied to the parks and recreation comprehensive master plan and pursue additional non-programmatic revenue such as banner sales and other sponsorships; Kroger told council staff plan to bring options and implementation details as the budget process advances.
Speakers and attribution: Kroger, recreation supervisors and other department staff were the primary presenters; Dan Kroger and named staff Jana Bowe and Nick Stroschein were cited in the presentation.
