Fort Lauderdale staff say parks bond moving but school projects lag behind budget

Parks staff told the Fort Lauderdale Parks & Recreation Advisory Board that the city’s $200 million parks bond, approved in 2019, is advancing but that school joint‑use projects face budget shortfalls and slower procurement than planners expected.

The update on the parks bond, presented by Ben Rogers and Alex Torres, laid out the program’s history and current status and emphasized tradeoffs the department is using to stretch limited dollars.

Ben Rogers, acting assistant city manager, summarized the program and introduced Alex Torres to walk through project-level details. Rogers said the bond “was approved September and March 12, 2019” and the city began implementing the master plan that followed. Torres said, “Phase 1 was approved with 60 projects and then phase 2,” and described how school projects were added and later reprioritized.

City documents and the presentation provided to the board show the bond package initially listed roughly $200 million for parks. Torres told the board the first tranche — $80 million — was approved and that, by February 2025, the city had spent approximately $50 million of that tranche as projects moved into bidding and construction. He said later tranches include a $60 million package drawn in late 2023 and additional allocations to be released as procurement advances.

Torres and Rogers highlighted how school joint‑use work was added after the original 2016 master plan. According to the presentation, phase 2 initially included 39 projects and four school projects; subsequent changes expanded the school list to 16 (one later removed). Torres said some school sites “did not have all the funding needed” when they were added, and the commission later approved a budget amendment for six schools to provide additional money.

Board members pressed staff on project pace and scope. Several members noted inflation, post‑COVID construction costs and staff capacity as reasons work has taken longer and eaten into budgets. Rogers said the city has begun using alternative procurement methods, “piggybacking” on existing contracts and adding project management staff to shorten timelines. He told the board the department is onboarding another project manager “because we know time is money at this point.”

Torres described a strategy of breaking larger school scopes into “micro projects” so limited budgets can deliver more parts of each school’s wish list. He said for some projects the department is pursuing faster procurement methods this year and that monthly updates and a project-status memo are being provided to the commission and will be made available to the advisory board.

The board discussed accountability and contractor coordination if projects are split among multiple vendors. Staff said they are balancing speed with program control and are working with legal and procurement teams to find options that maintain oversight. Rogers said the department recently issued a memo to commissioners listing the status of roughly 44 parks projects currently underway, broken down by commission district with estimated timelines and blocking factors.

Staff provided the board with detailed handouts for each school site and said those materials — including scope, status and estimated next steps — will be updated monthly and posted to the parks bond website.

City staff did not propose any final actions for the board at this meeting; the presentation was an informational update and an opportunity for board members to ask questions.

The board also discussed several specific park projects that are moving toward construction award in the coming weeks, including bids and commission memos for Bass Park and Holiday Park.