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Parks staff outline KPIs and seek committee help to link service levels to budget
Summary
Parks & Recreation presented three key performance measures (partnership funding ratio, percent of residents within a 10-minute walk of parks, and share of program participants receiving financial assistance) and asked the committee to help define service-level targets that will guide budget and bond decisions.
Parks and Recreation Director Jesus Aguirre and staff briefed the Climate, Water, Environment & Parks Committee on Jan. 28 about performance measures the department tracks and how those metrics can inform budgeting and bond conversations.
Ben Westenhaven, the department's business process consultant, reviewed three headline KPIs: a rolling five-year ratio of funding from partnerships/grants per dollar of city capital investment; the percent of residents with access to parks and open space (the department said recent values have hovered near 70%); and the percentage of parks program participants receiving financial assistance (Q1 reported at 39% with an annual target of 25%). Westenhaven explained that the first measure is a ratio sensitive to the timing of capital completions and the second is measured against a 10-minute-walk standard.
Committee members pressed staff to present metrics that better map to budget choices: instead of only ratios, members asked for dollar-based targets linking a defined spending level to expected changes in park-access percentage. Chair and staff proposed a two- to three-month effort with the committee and the Office of Budget and Organizational Excellence to set service-level goals (for maintenance and access) that could inform the FY27 budget.
Staff also outlined internal milestones: a funding-study scope on alternative financing (local government corporations, park districts, maintenance fees) and an update to the department's 10-year strategic plan. Aguirre said the department has engaged an external consultant (Gallagher) to support organizational analysis and that any larger reorganization would involve consultation with labor and further review.
The committee did not adopt new policy at the meeting but directed staff to work with members on measurable service-level goals and to return with materials linked to budget timelines.
