At their December 10 meeting, the Board of Commissioners adopted a 2025-2026 Budget for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) that focuses caring for park amenities and infrastructure, protecting the environment and natural resources it manages, serving the youth of Minneapolis through quality programming and investing in employees who deliver services.
“This budget was particularly challenging for several reasons. We needed to balance between the organizational needs and community impacts with an eye on delivering quality park services that Minneapolis residents want and use,” said Board President Meg Forney. “We passed a budget that is focused on sustaining our dedicated, talented staff but were unable to meet all the inflationary needs of the organization. As a result, we are stretching existing resources and implementing some service level reductions.”
The 2025 Budget totals $155 million, including $109 million for the general operating fund, $17 million for the enterprise operating fund, $2 million for the special revenue fund, and $27 million for capital project funding. The budget utilizes the maximum 8.27 percent tax levy approved by the Board of Estimate and Taxation in September. The MPRB’s 8.27 percent property tax levy increase is 1.5 percent of the total 6.9% property tax levy adopted December 10 by the Minneapolis City Council. The MPRB’s tax levy amounts to an approximate $31 annual increase in property taxes on a $323,000 home.
“It’s an honor to serve as Superintendent of such a locally and nationally acclaimed park system, and to deliver on our commitment to providing park access in underserved communities,” said Al Bangoura, Superintendent. “We are committed to equity and innovation, and to investing in the parks, programs and facilities that makes Minneapolis a great place to live, play, work and visit.”
The 2025-2026 budget is the MPRB’s first two-year budget process. The MPRB’s 2025 Annual Budget will be appropriated and the 2026 budget plan will be established, with time for further analysis and refinement during 2025.
The adopted 2025 budget maintains current service levels and includes $3,132,000 for the provision for wage and fringe adjustments as negotiated in recent settlements and $150,000 to reduce barriers to program participation by providing a city-wide, need-based free and sliding fee scale youth programming strategy. It does not include $1.5 million in additional levy funds that MPRB had sought to address inflationary pressures that are impacting the MPRB Budget, funds to provide the standard level of service for Graco Park that opened this fall and features a new building opening in early 2025, and a new position to support assessing and tracking lifecycles for all asset types within the MPRB system. The $1.5 million funding gap resulted in service level impacts to the organization and the public, as outlined in the budget.
The adopted budget supports the neighborhood park and regional park capital investments and utilizes criteria-based systems for project scheduling. Racial equity work continues to be demonstrated in the 2025-26 Budget in five distinct areas: 2025 department budget actions; neighborhood park capital improvement and rehabilitation funding; regional park capital improvement funding; recreation center funding; and 2025 budget adjustments.
The 2025 Budget includes an 8.27 percent tax levy increase and the 2026 budget plan is forecasted based on a 6.3 percent tax levy increase (1.1 percent increase on total city tax levy) and plans to maintain current service levels and provide the standard level of service for Graco Park and Upper Harbor Terminal Parks.
The budget also supports the MPRB’s commitment to strategic long-term planning through the 2023-2026 Strategic Directions, Performance Goals, and Priority Comprehensive Plan Strategies adopted by the Board in May 2022. The five strategic directions are: act boldly for our climate; cultivate each community’s place and honor cultural traditions in Minneapolis parks; implement quality youth and intergenerational programs; care for park assets to meet evolving needs and practices; and steward our natural resources.
Strategic Direction A – Act boldly for our climate future
The Board is committed to act boldly for our climate future through a reduction of carbon footprint, implementing resiliency projects in service area master plans and the ecological system plan and by analyzing park visitor modes of park access to create baseline data for future decision-making. This budget supports these goals through the department budget actions, the construction of the Graco Park building which will be the first net-zero building in the MPRB system, MPRB’s participation in the Xcel Energy – Solar*Rewards Community to obtain 100 percent of MPRB’s electricity from renewable sources, the continued use of formal criteria for evaluating equipment purchases and replacements to reduce fuel consumption, minimize pollution and emissions, and improve operations, and partnership with Minnesota Energy Climate Corps to perform energy efficiency assessments on all MPRB facilities by 2026.
Strategic Direction B – Cultivate each community’s place and honor cultural traditions in Minneapolis parks
The MPRB mission looks to dismantle historic inequities in the provision of park and recreation opportunities for all people and the Board seeks to cultivate each community’s place and honor cultural traditions in Minneapolis parks through enhanced and unified organization-wide volunteer management and through enhanced community safety and Park Police engagement activities. This budget supports these goals through department budget actions and continuing the Indigenous Acknowledgement work through an increase in contractual services in the Strategic Planning Department.
Strategic Direction C – Implement quality youth and intergenerational programs
In 2021, through the culmination of significant work and collaboration with the Mayor and City staff, a historic $2.6 million investment in youth was realized through a six-year funding agreement that includes a combination of property tax levy and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. This budget provides for year four of this agreement and includes a property tax levy increase of $260,000. With ARPA funding expiring on December 31, 2024, and full property tax support not being realized until 2027 a two-year funding gap of $520,000 in 2025 and $260,000 in 2026 are closed utilizing one-time decreases in General Fund transfers for operation facilities rehabilitation and parkland purchase reserve. This Board is committed to implementing quality youth and intergenerational programs and ensure its success
through program capacity measurement, multi-tiered program evaluation, and enrollment tracking. This budget supports these goals through the department budget actions and the expansion to city-wide, needs-based free and reduced cost youth programming. Beginning in the summer of 2025, a citywide, needs-based free and sliding fee scale cost youth programming strategy will replace the three current programs (Fee Assistance, Scholarship, Free Youth Programs and Free Rec Plus sites). The strategy is intended to reduce barriers to participation across the city and will apply to all youth programs in 2025 and 2026.
Strategic Direction D – Care for park assets to meet evolving needs and practices
The Board is committed to increase the rate of parkway repaving or reconstruction, increase the percentage of assets that are within their expected lifespan, establish service standard levels for the top assets within the park system, and increase the advancement of policy items identified in the system-wide master plan implementation tracker. This budget supports these goals through department budget actions; implementation of parkway investment; implementation of the next generation of asset management software with enhanced capabilities; one time funding allocated for care and maintenance of Graco Park in 2025; reallocation of capital improvement funds to increase funding for athletic fields; reallocation of funds identified to purchase operations equipment for GRACO park and three vacant youth program specialists positions to fund additional sidewalk and pavement improvements in neighborhood parks; and a forecasted increase to property taxes for the care and maintenance of Graco and Upper Harbor Terminal Parks in 2026.
Strategic Direction E – Steward our natural resources
The Board acknowledges its role as the steward of the park system’s natural resources and commits to natural area management, growing the public tree canopy, and improving water quality through best management practices. This budget supports these goals through the department budget actions; enhanced natural area management through State operations and maintenance funding; and implementation of the Stormwater Enterprise Fund. This budget also supports participation in the Urban Tree Carbon Offset Program through the partnership with Green Minneapolis. This budget includes a 2026 planned increase to seasonal Natural Resources Specialists to support natural area management; and an addition of a full-time water quality position and other operating costs for the Stormwater Enterprise Fund.
To address the budget gaps and to activate Graco Park, at a reduced level, the 2025 adopted budget uses one-time funds and transfers of funds, including savings from not operating the North Commons Water Park due to planned demolition of the pool to build a new recreation center and pool; reducing ice rinks from 22 park locations to 17 locations during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons; and reducing recreation center hours during non-peak times, by one hour per weekday, on four additional federal holidays, and Sundays at five sites.
Departmental initiatives, budget impacts and changes for 2025-26 include:
- Asset Management – includes shifts of staffing, materials, supplies, and contractual services to the Enterprise Fund for Sculpture Garden and pay parking lot maintenance to better align the activities between the funds; a reduction in five ice rink sites by the end of 2026 due to uncertain climate fluctuations, the environments, and warming room rental costs and will include further analysis especially rinks located on lakes; and an increase in materials and supplies due to inflation. The 2025 budget also includes an allocation of one-time savings from the closing of North Commons Waterpark and a one-time reduction in the General Fund transfer for operation facilities rehabilitation to fund the addition of seasonal maintenance hours, overtime, materials, supplies, contractual services, and equipment at Graco Park due to system equity investment not being supported by property taxes. The 2026 budget plan includes proposed funding to provide the standard level of service for care and maintenance of Graco and Upper Harbor Terminal Parks through a planned property tax increase.
- Athletic Programs, Aquatics, Golf & Ice Arenas – includes the closing of the North Commons Waterpark that suffers from cracks in the pool basin and leaks in piping and mechanical equipment, requiring nearly constant attention to keep the pool reasonably operable during season. While those conditions have been addressed without a pool closure in recent years, the MPRB’s effort to deliver a major recreation center project at North Commons Park requires demolition of major portions of the pool to allow for planned construction. The MPRB will request bids for pool demolition in March 2025 leading to the start of demolition activities as early as May 2025. The temporary operating savings from the waterpark closure are being utilized to provide maintenance and activation at a reduced level at Graco Park. The 2025 budget also includes revenue changes based on comparative market rates and trends for the sailing program, non-resident waterpark season passes, pool rental fees, adult volleyball leagues, and field rentals. The 2025 budget also includes an increase in golf fees based on trends; an increase in revenue from charging all high schools for golf course use through a per player season pass; and the conversion of four seasonal parkkeepers to two full-time parkkeepers. The 2026 budget plan includes an increase to golf fees based on comparative market rates. The budget includes an increase to ice rental fees in both 2025 and 2026 based on comparative market rates.
- Environmental Management – Beginning in 2024, the City of Minneapolis implemented a stormwater charge through its monthly stormwater utility fees on behalf of the MPRB and allocates the funding to the MPRB. The MPRB’s Stormwater Enterprise Fund is used to sustain, protect, and enhance the stormwater management system on parkland for which the MPRB is responsible. The funding is also be used to cover the annual costs of water quality and stormwater monitoring of Minneapolis water bodies and water quality education to community members. These cost items are associated with the current National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase I permit requirements of which the MPRB and City co-permittees. The 2025 budget includes an inflationary increase on the base funding in 2025 and 2026 for the water quality and stormwater monitoring of Minneapolis water bodies and water quality education to community members; and a 2026 budget plan to add full-time water quality position and increase supplies, and contractual services to further enhance the program to provide more technical, engineering, or contracting repair work. The 2026 budget plan also includes an increase to seasonal natural resources specialists to increase from six to nine months of the year to cover crucial seasonal work that takes place from spring to fall for Natural Areas Maintenance.
- Forestry – includes an increase in contractual services for the grinding and disposal of tree debris; a transfer from the Special Revenue Fund for revenue generated from tree preservation projects in which sponsors of the projects reimburse the MPRB for the value of public trees affected by the project along with a corresponding increase to tree purchases; and a transfer of available proceeds from The Urban Tree Carbon Offset Program reserve fund along with a corresponding increase to tree purchases.
- Strategic Planning – includes an increase in contractual services to continue the work of the MPRB Indigenous Parks Liaison and MPRB Native American Park Council, including Indigenous Acknowledgement development, training, and Indigenous Reconciliation Plan development.
- Visitor Services – includes a decrease in Ambassador provisional staffing which will be used to establish an enhanced outdoor supervision pilot program in the Youth & Recreation Center Programs Department; various revenue increases and decreases due to trends; one-time savings from the closing of North Commons Waterpark to fund special services attendant hours at Graco Park due to system equity investment not being supported by property taxes; and an allocation of one-time savings to fund the replacement of an inflatable movie screen. The 2026 budget plan includes proposed funding for the activation of Graco and Upper Harbor Terminal Parks through a planned property tax levy increase.
- Youth and Recreation Center Programs – includes the expansion to city-wide, needs-based free and reduced cost youth programming; an increase in Rec Plus fees based on comparative market rates and an increase in Rec Plus materials, supplies, and training; increase in winter outdoor programming in partnership with environmental education at Webber Park to replace the closing of the ice rink; an increase in recreation centers material and supplies to address the impact of inflation; and a decrease in contractual services as recreation program staff are required to provide more direct programming at the recreation centers. The 2025 budget also includes the closing of recreation centers on four additional federal holidays (Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and Veterans Day); the establishment of an enhanced outdoor supervision pilot program at parks that experience high outdoor usage during major holidays; and based on actual park usage, the reduction of recreation center public hours by one hour per weekday during the school year and summer and closing East Phillips, Farview, Northeast, Pearl, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parks on Sundays which results in no public hours at recreation centers on Sundays. The 2025 budget includes fee increases based on comparative market rates for room rental fees and summer camp fees; and the establishment of youth sports camps/clinics and a commercial permit use fee.
The Superintendent’s recommended budget was presented in October and all related budget documents are available for viewing at www.minneapolisparks.org/budget. The adopted budget book will be posted online in January.