The Lennox Park Board reviewed adjustments to the parks and recreation portion of the 2026 city budget and discussed operational changes needed to balance the broader city budget.

Christie (Parks and Recreation staff) told the board that City Council review led to reductions in planned capital improvements: the park improvements line was cut by $10,000 and the recreation improvements line by $4,000 to help the city achieve a balanced budget. "We did reduce those down," Christie said when outlining the council's changes.

Christie also outlined other line-item updates Council requested or staff refined: an increase of about $3,700 to cover the local match for a South Dakota Urban and Community Forestry Program grant application; an increase in projected recreation-program revenue with a corresponding $5,000 increase in programming expenses; higher budgeted pool membership and swim‑lesson revenue to reduce the pool's operating loss; a $5,500 increase in personnel costs tied to updated insurance estimates; a $3,100 decrease in workers' compensation expense after more precise allocations; a $3,400 reduction in repair-and-maintenance (the board will defer purchase of a backup main pump and only fund the play-feature pump this year); and a $2,000 increase for concessions to reflect recent spending.

"We really tried to look back at the growth of each of our programs and kind of better project a little bit more accurately where we would be on that," Christie said when describing increased revenue projections for recreation programs.

Board members asked about a large utility change. Staff said a utility specialist discovered the pool water meter had been read in gallons while billing used cubic feet; correcting that accounting raised the utilities line by roughly $17,000. Christie said the corrected figure is expected to be close to the new estimate going forward.

A board member asked whether the $17,000 is a one-time adjustment; Christie said it is "close to the estimate moving forward."

Board members discussed the adjustments but did not take new formal budget action at the meeting. Christie said staff will continue to monitor budget performance through the year and pursue grant opportunities to offset capital costs. The board previously reviewed and recommended a draft budget for council consideration at its September meeting.

Votes and procedural items recorded during the meeting included the voice approval of the agenda and the prior meeting minutes and a voice vote to adjourn; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript.