Parks and Recreation presents FY26 budget request of $83.5 million, emphasizes youth sports, safety and facility maintenance

Commissioner Susan Slauson presented the Department of Parks and Recreation’s proposed operating program and answered council questions during the Committee of the Whole’s FY26 budget hearing.

Commissioner Susan Slauson told the Committee that the department’s proposed general fund obligation for fiscal year 2026 is $83,535,660, “a decrease of $7,384,000.841 dollars from fiscal year 2025 estimated obligation levels,” which she said largely reflects spending in FY25 that was one‑time in nature. She described ongoing priorities as maintaining parks and natural lands, expanding workforce development tied to sustainability and removing illegal dumping, and continuing the mayor’s “safer, cleaner, greener” priorities.

Slauson outlined youth sports and anti‑violence work that the department and partners have funded and supported: a fall 2024 round of travel grants distributed through the Philadelphia City Fund provided $244,000 to 32 football and cheer teams (an average of about $7,625 per qualifying team); spring 2025 grants provided $218,000 in partnership with the Philadelphia Youth Sports Coalition (PYSC) to support about 70 organizations with awards ranging from $500 to $5,000, and a second round was planned for late summer 2025 focused on underserved communities. She said youth programming totals include 95 after‑school programs serving about 2,200 youth, feeding programs that served more than 322,000 meals during the school year, 220 play streets, and summer camps for about 6,700 youth.

On maintenance and natural resources, Slauson said PPR’s urban forestry and regional crews manage more than 30,000 street trees and more than 10,000 acres of parkland, with natural lands teams responsible for roughly 5,000 acres of forests, meadows and wetlands. She said the department has planted 468 trees in a commercial corridor tree‑planting program and trained and paid 40 business ambassadors to care for those trees.

Council members pressed the commissioner on public safety at parks and recreation facilities. Council President Johnson and others asked about strategies to reduce gun violence and improve safety at recreation centers and fields, including the role of park rangers, municipal guards and possible public‑private supplemental security. Slauson said summer hours are generally 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., said the department is “leaning on our park rangers a lot more,” and described work to improve lighting, lock gates where possible, and to coordinate with Philadelphia Police Department, advisory councils and neighborhood partners. She also said the department is open to exploring additional security models and partnerships but noted that adding private guards would require specifying duties and funding.

Council members also asked about specific rebuild projects and co‑located sites. Slauson said phases of the FDR Park rebuild (gateway, nature, picnic/pet play, multipurpose fields and courts) have been funded and that Gateway Plaza and the welcome center are nearing completion; multipurpose fields and courts have been funded though construction timing varies by phase. On shared footprints, the Capital Program Office confirmed that Winfield Library and the John C. Anderson Cultural Center projects coordinate sequencing and that John C. Anderson construction is expected to begin in fall 2025.

Slauson said PPR is pursuing an asset‑management system to track maintenance needs and longer‑term capital priorities so that the department moves away from ad hoc emergency repairs. She described steps already underway: decluttering and deep cleaning of facilities, targeted repairs prioritized with the Capital Projects Office, and plans to use a facilities condition assessment to build a strategic, multiyear maintenance plan.

What was asked and not decided: Council members repeatedly urged more resources for lighting, paving, tree removal, municipal guards and staffing. Slauson and her deputies committed to follow‑up information, including lists of camera installations, sites in the INET Wi‑Fi rollout, and timelines for the asset‑management effort.

Provenance: Commissioner Slauson’s presentation and Q&A appear in the hearing transcript beginning with her formal introduction and budget presentation and continuing through extensive questioning by council members about staffing, safety, rebuild sequencing, tree and forestry work, and asset management.