Peoria budget includes park repairs, sports-complex parking garage and staff asks for Paloma rec center design funds

City staff walked the council through parks and community-facility items in the proposed FY2026 budget, including routine park-condition refreshes, the Moore (trails/volunteer) program, operations costs for a new special-use park in Vistancia and a proposal to fund Paloma regional recreation center programming and design.

Park operations and refresh Staff explained the park-condition index and associated refresh and refurbishment programs; FY2026 projects include court surfacing, playground refurbishments, restroom and ramada repairs, and LED light upgrades. Staff said the percent-for-art funding and arts grants are funded through capital allocation and the program budget.

Moore division and Vistancia park operations Parks and recreation staff described a Moore division program for trail and open-space volunteer coordination and requested $1.5 million in the budget to start the program (about $400,000 ongoing for staff and the rest one-time startup). The Vistancia/American Leadership Academy (ALA) special-use park was noted as coming into operation in FY2026 and will add ongoing operating costs.

Sports complex and parking garage Staff told council about an effort to convert or relocate parking to free up surface lots at the sports complex for economic development. The FY2026 CIP includes funding to convert two half fields to full fields and a re-started project to provide additional parking capacity; staff explained that the current plan contemplates a multi-level garage to replace lost surface parking while retaining playing fields.

Paloma regional recreation center design funding Council was shown a $3,000,000 design/programming request to move Paloma Phase 3 (a regional rec center and event space) from concept toward schematic design and public outreach. Staff emphasized the design and permitting steps could take several years; construction funding is not included and would be considered in a later bond or capital plan.

Neighborhood parks and developer responsibility Staff reiterated the city’s approach that neighborhood parks are generally delivered by developers per development agreements, not by city debt. Staff said operating costs shift into the maintenance schedule when developers dedicate parks to the city; budget lines may reflect $0 capital if a park is to be built and dedicated by a developer in a subsequent year.

Ending Staff asked council to consider the Paloma design funding and the sports-complex parking/field conversion work when reviewing the tentative budget; staff noted several park projects are in permitting or construction and carryovers are funding many FY2026 activities.