Davenport parks staff outline FY27 budget kickoff, CIP priorities and enterprise fund status

At the October meeting of the Park and Recreation Advisory Board, Chad, parks department staff, outlined the department's operating-budget picture, a six-year capital improvement program (CIP) and the status of two enterprise funds as the city begins development of its FY 2027 budget.

Chad said the department's operating budget covers daily services such as employee expenses, supplies and capital outlay and is funded primarily by the general fund, grants and local sales tax. "Approximately 61% of the budget comes from the general fund and trust and agency fund," he said, adding that the department's operating budget shows about a $2,100,000 (roughly 6%) decrease compared with recent years because American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars included in FY24 and FY25 have been spent.

Why it matters: the board will advise on park priorities while the citywide budget process moves through staff review and council budget workshops early next year; only the first year of the six-year CIP is funded when council adopts the budget.

Chad walked the board through the department's CIP list and project examples for FY26 and later years, noting the CIP is a six-year plan and only the first year is formally funded. He described recurring and one-time projects now in various stages: annual cemetery maintenance funded from local option sales tax (LST); Credit Island Park improvements tied to post-2019 flood funding and possible future master planning; Duck Creek Park tennis-court repairs and conversion to add four pickleball courts with construction expected to begin in early November and finish in spring; replacement or upgrade of two digital signs to enable remote updates; relocation support funding for Davenport Junior Theatre; recurring golf-course capital improvements (roughly $250,000'$300,000 every other year); a hard-surface repair program for courts and similar amenities; a park-amenity ADA program (about $350,000 every other year) and an ADA transition plan contract to be awarded to WT Group; a park security improvement allocation (about $30,000 annually, primarily for cameras to date); a park sign conversion and branding program to develop design standards and phased implementation; an every-other-year playground replacement program (roughly $175,000'$200,000 for larger playgrounds, next planned at Duck Creek); VanDer Veer Conservatory small repairs (about $25,000 annually); and a planned stone fountain renovation at Vander Veer with design previously funded and an anticipated FY27 construction budget of about $700,000.

On enterprise funds, Chad said golf operations are performing strongly across the city's three courses (Emeis, Duck Creek and Red Hawk), with recent revenue growth allowing management to build capital reserves after several years of tight margins. "We've started to see that in golf," he said, crediting course staff for maintenance and increased play.

River's Edge has a different profile. Chad said the facility historically required subsidies and that staff and council recently converted one arena back to ice, creating a two-rink facility after soccer use declined following the opening of a new Bettendorf facility. That change, and improvements to concessions and scheduling, are reducing the fund's subsidy, but deferred maintenance remains a major issue: Chad said the original chiller likely needs full replacement, which staff estimate could cost $1.5 million to $2 million. "We need direction as to what the policy will be and what the community need for the facility is," he said.

Operational notes and staffing: parks operations maintain about 3,600 acres; seasonal work such as spring water-hookup installation (more than 80 hookups) depends on Iowa American Water for meter presence and on weather. The department has shifted some seasonal dollars to increase full-time labor, growing year-round maintenance staff from 11 toward 14 to support Main Street Landing and riverfront demands. Supplies and services represent a significant share of non-labor operating costs; Chad said about $250,000 of supplies is for utilities at nonrevenue facilities (community centers, conservatory, band shell and historic houses), and rising utility and deferred-maintenance expenses are recurring pressures.

Other items shared with the board: the department is pursuing an ADA transition plan tied to CAPRA accreditation standards; the River's Edge team is pursuing partnerships and event bids (for example, the Iowa games) to boost revenue; concessions staffing and wage increases helped stabilize that revenue line at River's Edge; and a contractor for the Vander Veer fountain design is in place with implementation planned in FY27.

Public engagement and events: staff reminded board members of upcoming events (Halloween parade Oct. 26) and invited volunteers for seasonal tasks such as holiday light hanging at Vander Veer and Lindsay Park. Board members asked for follow-up information on benchmarking that showed Davenport parks at the median to low end of comparable communities and asked staff to check timelines for the Goose Creek/EMEIS trail extension with Public Works.

Votes at a glance: the board moved and seconded approval of the September meeting minutes and voted to approve them; at the end of the meeting the board moved, seconded and voted to adjourn. (Motions recorded as moved/seconded in the transcript; mover/second were not specified by name.)

What remains unresolved: staff flagged the need for council-level prioritization and funding direction for River's Edge's deferred maintenance and the potential chiller replacement; many CIP items listed for later years remain planned but not funded until they appear in a budget year and receive council approval.

For more detail: Chad and Jessica (parks staff) offered to provide follow-up material and answered board questions about ARPA allocations, benchmarking methodology and specific CIP timelines.