Houston Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee Workshop on Parks Department Budget - May 15, 2026
Houston Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee Workshop on Parks Department Budget - May 15, 2026
The Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee, chaired by Councilmember Sally Alcorn, held a workshop on May 15, 2026, to review the proposed FY27 budget for the Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD). Director Kenneth Allen and finance lead Bridget Ikoff presented the budget, which showed a decrease of approximately $300,000 in supplies and services, with total expenditures of $106.4 million across all funds ($88.5 million from the general fund). The department outlined strategic alignment with mayor’s priorities, program spending, revenue projections, and new KPIs. Public speakers advocated for increased maintenance funding, staffing, and equity in park investments.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Taylor Valley (SEER): Expressed support for the department's work (urban forestry, mowing cycles, grants) but urged more funding for maintenance, especially as the open space ordinance may add land without addressing upkeep. Noted that the open space ordinance fee increases go to capital improvements, not maintenance.
- Stefania Tomaskovic (SEER Director): Stated full support for HPARD’s budget and requested expanded funding for maintenance, security, and investment in historically underserved community parks. Emphasized parks as crucial infrastructure for health, wellness, and resilience.
- Alison Bell (Executive Director, Heritage Society): Praised HPARD for maintaining Sam Houston Park, requested continued security and funding (kiosk revenue), and noted the park's importance for UNESCO Slave Route Project sites.
- Jack Valinski (Metropolitan Multi-service Center): Highlighted the park's daily use by diverse residents, requested Wi-Fi in park buildings, and stressed the need for more building upkeep.
- Laura Gallier: Thanked the parks rangers for improving safety at Love Park (unleashed dogs), noted removed playgrounds (Mango Manor Park) not replaced for 10+ years, and observed baseball at Metropolitan Multi-service Center.
- Doug Smith: Praised maintenance at A-Leaf Neighborhood Center but flagged dangerous gravel goal areas at soccer fields; asked for targeted watering or grants. Concerned that Soccer for Success program funding shows “not applicable” for FY27 on page 142 of the budget (questioned if program is ending). Also noted zero dollars for park development and renovation in the budget.
- Karina Blessed (Fonde Park advocate): Requested more equitable recreation programming (e.g., yoga, Bollywood), additional staffing to keep gates open at Fonde Park’s new parking lot, and better community communication during construction.
Discussion Items
- Budget Overview: Director Allen presented a $300,000 reduction in supplies and services. Total expenditures: $106.4 million (general fund $88.5 million). Fund 2106 (Bio Greenways) reduced by $1.26 million due to Houston Parks Board taking over White Oak Bayou trail maintenance; no layoffs occurred. Personnel: 51% of general fund expenses; non-personnel: 22%; restricted accounts include annual zoo payment (14%).
- Program Highlights:
- Aquatics: Goal to open 34 pools (3 down for maintenance), hire 40+ FTEs (5 full-time, 13 part-time, 158 seasonal). Pay increased by $2 per classification; hiring 15-year-olds. Target: 85,000 pool participants.
- Community Centers: 59 centers; targeting 130,000 seniors/adults and 75,000 after-school participants. Staffing down ~30 FTEs due to retirements, resignations, and realignment (some centers converted to social sites).
- Golf Operations: Memorial and Sharpstown courses managed; 350,000 rounds projected, with no cost to taxpayers. Sharpstown needs $10M+ for clubhouse; potential reconfiguration with driving range, restaurant, recreation center.
- Urban Forestry: Planted 13,000 trees in FY26; target of 15,000 in FY27.
- Park Rangers: 40 rangers but high turnover; pay increase improved hiring but retention remains a challenge. Additional resources needed to cover 386 parks and 640-mile radius.
- Grants: Secured $26.9 million in FY26; target of 25 grant applications in FY27. Staff capacity limits grant applications; two more staff needed.
- Revenue: Total proposed revenue ~$18 million, 1% lower than FY26 estimates. Decrease in special revenue fund ($300,000) due to completion of loan repayments; increase in HPAD golf facilities ($204,000) from higher customer participation. Maintenance renewal and replacement fund down $500,000 due to expiration of one-time funding for North Houston highway improvement.
- Equity & Investments: Councilmember Ramirez noted that 12 of 20 worst-condition parks are in District D. Director Allen mentioned Let’s Play Houston campaign targeting neighborhood parks, and a push for a park dedication fee increase (last updated 2007). TIRZs have varying participation; TIRZ 8 improved four parks.
- Questions from Council:
- Vice Chair Castillo asked about park ranger needs (more boots on the ground to address dumping) and urban forestry resources (need for routine tree removal and planting).
- Mayor Pro Tem Castex Tatum asked about lifeguard recruitment (HR taking hands-on approach) and retention incentives for rangers (pay increase helped, further increases could help with longevity).
- Chair Alcorn inquired about maintenance renewal/replacement fund decrease (one-time funding ended) and user fees (not updated for decades; written questions submitted).
- Councilmember Ramirez asked about TIRZ contributions (mixed; need more), golf revenue (Memorial Park driving range over $2 million/year), plans for Sharpstown upgrades (working with TIRZ, council), and Herman Park driving range (more community outreach needed). Noted drainage issues on Harrisburg hike-and-bike trail; staff responsive.
- KPIs & EY Study: New KPIs in appendix for FY27, rolled out fully in FY28, to measure service delivery, operational efficiency, and community impact.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the workshop was for information and public input.
- The department will proceed with opening pools on Memorial Day weekend (10 pools initially, reaching 34 by summer).
- Chair Alcorn noted the open space ordinance fee increase and equity changes are under discussion; she committed to continued stakeholder dialogue.
- The committee acknowledged the need for additional park maintenance funding, more rangers, increased grant staff, and potential user fee updates.
- A public budget workshop is scheduled for tomorrow (May 16, 2026) at 10 a.m. at Fondee Recreation Center.
- Council will follow up on written questions (e.g., user fee revenue, park development budget line items).
Meeting Transcript
On our fourth day of budget workshops, and I'm Sally Alcorn, chairing the budget and fiscal affairs committee, and I want to welcome first the parks department. He'll be presenting to be followed by the Department of Neighborhoods, and then we'll be hearing from City Legal. And I am joined by my staff from my vice chair, Councilmember Mario Castillo, staff from Council Member Joaquin Martinez, staff from Vice Mayor Pro Tem Amy Peck, staff from Councilmember Twilight Carter, and my own staff here. And just want to remind everybody out there in HTV that tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. is our budget workshop for the public, and that will take place at the Fondee Recreation Center. So hope to see a lot of people there. All right. With that, Director, I'd like to introduce Director Kenneth Allen, and he is joined by Bridget Ikoff. Yes. And she comes from HR, but we're so happy to see you and glad to see everybody wearing green. I'm with the theme today, too. Green for parks. So happy to have our hardworking parks department here. And with that, you may proceed. Also, want to welcome Kate Dentler with Councilmember Amy K Abby Kamen. All right, thank you, Councilmember. I'd like to also thank staff from other council offices, as well as my esteemed colleagues and guests that are here and general public. You know, it's just an honor to serve as a parks director for the Houston Parks and Recreation Department as we submit our 27 uh budget proposal. Um, you know, I'm excited about this coming fiscal year because of opportunities and efficiencies. Um, I want to introduce again Bridget Ikoff, our uh management and finance um lead for our department. Um she's been with us in terms of the city for a while. Um, stole it from me, but I stole the back. And needless to say, she's a critical role in this process, and she's worked with all of my division heads and other staff to present this budget, not only from a financial standpoint, but from an operation standpoint as we execute the budget throughout the year. I also like to uh recognize our finance and management team that's sitting behind me, as well as executive staff and the employees that work tolerant tire tirelessly day to day on operations on meeting our budget, on executing it, and on implementing all the things that we do with the resources that we have. Now, moving forward, as we look at this coming year, um we just maintain steadfast. Our budget has not changed much from last year, uh, but we are a lot more efficient. I mentioned my team. There's only one person, and that's Erica Madison that's on their original executive team when I started in this seat, and they have transitioned well. Uh they communicate. I mean, they're they're a team, and we work together to accomplish the things that we're accomplishing. I just wanted to note that um it's just through strategic partnerships and fiscal responsibility and management. Um we're maximizing our resources, and we're delivering delivering measurable and meaningful outcomes for citizens. Let's go to the first slide. Um, this slide, you know, in terms of the table of contents, we have strategic alignment, plans to eliminate the gap, proposed FY27, department expenditures, uh, outcome based budget programs, proposed FY27, department revenue, and then an appendix at the end of this presentation with a wealth of information from our R chart to tell you a little bit more about our team, uh park facilities, um, and our inventory, KPIs that we're going to for FY27, but that we will start implementing um this year internally as we turn the curve from the Ernest and Young study. And then also department um demographics along with department accomplishments. Next slide, please. This slide shows the parks and recreation and how we align with the mayor's priorities. Uh 45% of our budget is prioritized and addressed under quality of life, 4% in public safety, 16% in infrastructure, and 35% in government that works in that category. I want to note in this category it accounts for the Houston Zoo contract. Next slide, please. Our FY 27 budget reduction is a decrease of about $300,000 in supplies and services. I'll go into that when we reach the program. But like I said, minimal impact on our operations compared to last year. Next slide, please. This slide capture it captures the expenditures from each fund. Our largest expenditures is 88.5 million in our general fund. And the total expenditures from all funds is 106 million, 106.4 million. We, in terms of the Bio Greenways 2020 fund from 2106 noted in the slide, we reduced, we were reduced by 1.26 million because we no longer service the White Oak Bio, Houston Parks Board decide they're servicing that and leaving us with some gaps that I think we were able to fill based on vacancies that we had in our department. We didn't have to lay any of that the 11 staff off that was operating and maintaining that part that portion of our trail system. Next slide, please.
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