PRAC reviews adopted FY26 Measure P budget; Beautify Fresno, trail and bike projects spotlighted

City parks staff and public‑works officials presented the adopted FY26 Measure P budget to the Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission (PRAC), outlining how Measure P tax revenue, carryover balances and interest will fund park operations, capital projects, trail maintenance, beautification and arts support in the coming year.

The presentation: Tu Zhong, business manager for Fresno Parks, summarized the Measure P adopted budget and the fund structure. Staff reported roughly $40.8 million in FY25 carryover, a tax revenue projection of about $47.1 million and approximately $2.8 million in other revenue (primarily interest), for a total Measure P fund of about $90.9 million for FY26.

Category allocations and notable appropriations: Staff described major category totals and a sample of appropriations: category 1 (existing parks, citywide and highest‑need subfunds) includes combined operating and capital appropriations totaling roughly $16 million (citywide) and $19.9 million (highest need) for FY26; category 2 (acquisition/large capital) accounted for about 21.5% of funds; category 3 (senior programming, youth job training and veterans) was appropriated about $3.8 million; category 4 (arts/culture pass‑through) had a reported carryover of $5.5 million and projected FY26 revenue of $5.6 million for total category revenues of about $11.4 million and an appropriation of about $11.1 million.

Beautify Fresno: Mark Standriff, director of Beautify Fresno, presented a detailed operating budget for the program and highlighted accomplishments. The FY26 Measure P portion of Beautify Fresno was reported as $1,448,500 (the program is funded by a mix of Measure P and general fund). Standriff said the program funds four “quad crews” (two funded with Measure P) dedicated to proactive litter removal; salaries and benefits for crews totaled about $495,000. He reported the quad crews removed more than 4,000,000 pounds of trash since October, averaged roughly 150 cleanup/beautification events per year, and registered about 1,400 new volunteers last year.

Public Works projects and leveraging outside grants: Public Works Director Scott Moser outlined Measure P category 5 funding for trails, the San Joaquin River Parkway and major‑street beautification. Highlights included an $800,000 Measure P allocation to leverage more than $3.5 million in federal air‑quality grant funds for a Midtown trail segment, $1,777,700 for another Midtown trail segment paired with $1 million from Caltrans, and $1.8 million in Measure P to accompany $3.4 million in state grant funds for protected bike lanes on the Dakota–Blackstone corridor. Public Works also allocated $250,000 for ongoing San Joaquin River Parkway maintenance and another $250,000 for minor capital improvements in partnership with the San Joaquin River Conservancy and Parkway Trust. The adopted budget also includes $910,000 for a “thousand trees” initiative and $140,000 for highway litter control leveraging other funds.

Commission recommendations and adopted changes: PRAC had submitted about 20 recommendations. Staff reported partial adoption by City Council: the commission’s request for a $300,000 youth fee‑waiver program was reduced to a $75,000 adoption ($50,000 for youth sports scholarships and $25,000 for fee waivers). PRAC’s recommendation for up to $150,000 for Fresno Arts Council translation and administration support was partially met by the City Council’s separate $75,000 general‑fund allocation to the Fresno Arts Council for outreach and administration of the arts/culture fund (reported by staff).

Questions from commissioners and public: Commissioners asked about geographic distribution (Beautify Fresno said roughly one‑third of cleanup activity occurs in Southwest Fresno and that 90% of cleanups were south of Shaw to target higher‑need areas); graffiti abatement staff reported about 16 full‑time graffiti staff and roughly 20–25,000 annual graffiti service requests; the quad crews do not remove graffiti (that work is handled by a separate graffiti abatement crew). Commissioners asked for comparative general‑fund numbers; staff said parks general‑fund appropriations were approximately $25 million in FY24, about $22 million for FY26 (staff offered to supply a detailed budget memo).

Requests and follow up: Commissioners asked staff to provide PRAC with the comparison between PRAC recommendations and final council adoptions, a ZIP‑code/district breakdown of Measure P impacts, and additional details about Camp Pecheen/Camp Pushegan planning and potential interim improvements. Public Works said staff were meeting monthly with the San Joaquin River Conservancy and Parkway Trust to prioritize small capital projects along the Parkway and to refine cost estimates for projects such as Camp Pecheen.

Ending: The commission closed the budget workshop portion of the meeting after asking staff for follow‑up information and scheduled opportunities for commissioners to make recommendations in October and again during the FY27 budget cycle.