REMARKS
Council Member Justin L. Brannan opens Department of Parks And Recreation portion of the executive budget hearing on the FY 2024-2028 financial plan
2:55:08
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164 sec
Council Member Justin L. Brannan welcomes attendees to the hearing on the Parks Department's budget in the executive financial plan for fiscal years 2024-2028.
- He outlines the financial context, including the proposed $582.9 million Parks budget for FY 2025, a decrease from the preliminary plan
- Brannan criticizes the decrease and lack of funding restorations called for by the City Council
- He emphasizes the importance of protecting public spaces like parks in the budget
- His questions will focus on staffing vacancies, the hiring freeze, and budget changes
Justin L. Brannan
2:55:08
Good afternoon, and welcome to the final executive budget hearing for today.
2:55:13
Focus on the Department of Parks And Recreation.
2:55:16
Council member, Justin Brandon, I chaired the Committee on Finance, joined this afternoon by my good friend and colleague, council member, Shikhar Krishnan, who chairs the committee on parks and recreation.
2:55:26
We've been joined this afternoon by council members, brewer, nurse, Osea, Hudson, Williams, Menin, and Carr.
2:55:33
Welcome commissioner Donahue and your team.
2:55:36
Thank you for joining us today to answer our questions.
2:55:40
For those playing at home.
2:55:42
I like to set the table on April 24 2024.
2:55:46
The administration released the executive financial plan for FY 24 to 28 with a proposed FY 25 budget of $111,600,000,000.
2:55:56
Parks Park's Department's proposed FY 25 budget of 582,900,000 represents half a percent of the administration's proposed FY 25 budget in the executive plan.
2:56:09
This is a decrease of $836,000 from the $583,700,000 that was originally budgeted and the FY 25 preliminary plan.
2:56:21
This decrease results from a loss of $8,300,000 for the Parks Opportunity program, partially offset by expanded hiring for exterminators and increased funds from the collective bargaining agreement.
2:56:35
As of March 2024, Parks has 181 vacancies relative to their budgeted FY 24 headcount.
2:56:44
And the council's preliminary budget response, we called in the mayor to add $59,700,000 to reverse prior year pegs and restore other programs.
2:56:54
Not only was the council's call for funding completely ignored, but in this case, the park's executive budget actually dropped from where it was in the preliminary budget.
2:57:03
Which is very rare.
2:57:05
As I mentioned before, what restorations the mayor made in the executive budget are a fraction of the cuts he made to key programs.
2:57:12
Which the council has found weren't even necessary in the first place.
2:57:15
Council analysts found sufficient resources left out of the preliminary budget that after setting aside funds for the rainy day fund and ensuring against unexpected financial cost, it still leaves 1.6 $3,000,000,000 for restorations like we've called for here today.
2:57:32
In a time when costs keep going up, A day at the park is still free.
2:57:36
Last I checked, and the council is committed to delivering a budget that protects public spaces and public assets like our parks.
2:57:43
My questions today will largely focus on the pegs and the hiring freeze along with the general and capital budget changes.
2:57:50
I now wanna turn to my coach here for this hearing.