Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Staff briefs new board members on parks funds, subsidies and possible ballot measures
Summary
Parks staff presented an overview of the department’s funding structure — including the permanent parks and recreation property tax (0.9 mills), the recreation activity fund, lottery funds and a 0.25-cent sales-tax allocation — and outlined draft ballot strategies under discussion for 2025 and 2026.
Parks staff told the advisory board the department’s operating and capital work relies on multiple distinct funds and said city leaders are discussing potential ballot measures to expand or extend dedicated revenue streams.
The budget briefing matters because PRAB advises the department and city council on the annual budget and the five-year capital improvement program; understanding funding restrictions helps the board weigh priorities and recommendations.
Jackson Haidt, who oversees business services for the department, summarized the main funds: the permanent parks and recreation fund (a dedicated property-tax mill levy the staff described as 0.9 mills), the recreation activity fund (a quasi‑enterprise fund that collects user fees), the city general fund (annual allocation shared across departments), state lottery funds, and a 0.25‑cent sales-tax allocation used for operations and capital. Jackson said the permanent parks fund is the most restricted and is “predominantly used for capital improvement plan.”
Staff provided a few fiscal figures to illustrate scale: projected permanent parks revenue for 2025 was presented at about $4.4 million with planned expenditures around $3.4 million; staff said the recreation activity fund receives roughly $12–14 million in fees and historically has had a roughly $1.6 million general‑fund subsidy.
Staff described the Long-Term Financial Strategy (LTFS) and the city’s budgeting-for-resilience-and-equity framework (BRE/CERI). Jackson and Stacy Hoffman, senior budget analyst, said the city is balancing priorities across 41 municipal funds and noted that lottery funds historically split between departments will be allocated to Parks for CIP projects in 2026 to address prioritized needs.
Looking ahead, staff said two ballot options are under consideration: an extension of the Community, Culture, Resilience and Safety (CCRS) sales-tax measure to support major projects, and a proposal to broaden and increase the permanent parks mill levy (including a possible renaming to “public realm” and an increase in mills) so the fund could support a wider array of maintenance and capital purposes. Allie described the conversation as part of a multi-year strategy and said 2025 efforts will concentrate on “taking care of what we have” with longer-term structural measures targeted for 2026.
Staff encouraged board members to review the department plan and budget packet ahead of the board’s April budget review and noted the department will ask PRAB for formal recommendations on capital appropriations in July.
