City of College Place finance director Brian Carlton told the Parks Board on Oct. 24 that the Lions Park project will finish roughly $1.4 million over its original $6 million budget after the city lost a roughly $500,000 federal arts endowment award.

Carlton said spending to date on Lions Park is about $6.6 million, with remaining payments and retainage bringing the total to “just shy of $7.4 million.” He attributed most of the overrun to contractor change orders — $653,000 for Nelson Construction and $643,000 for Anderson Perry — and said the city borrowed $1.5 million from its tax increment financing fund to cover timing and reimbursement shortfalls. Carlton said approximately $1.6 million in reimbursements were outstanding at the end of last year and that the lost endowment award is included in the project shortfall.

The budget shortfall will be repaid to the TIF fund over about three years, Carlton said, and the city expects to have enough revenue to meet that plan. He warned, however, that repaying the TIF loan will leave “very few projects in parks moving forward for the next two to three years” as funds are reallocated to cover the deficit.

During public comment, resident and former College Place planning commissioner Stanley Green urged the board to encourage the city to pursue legal action to enforce what he described as an executed contract tied to the lost funding. Carlton said legal action against the federal government has not been discussed at the city level and that litigation costs would likely be prohibitive, though he did not rule out other avenues.

Board members discussed pursuing additional grants and coordinating with other jurisdictions affected by the federal rescission. City staff said capacity to manage new grants and projects is limited, and that some recent applications for other parks had been declined by funding agencies. The board and staff suggested making the city’s concerns known to local elected officials and the mayor’s office, and some members offered to sign letters of support.

The board did not take formal action on litigation or new grant applications; staff said the new city administrator arriving in November will be involved in next steps.