Good evening, everybody.

Good evening.

Thanks for coming this evening.

This is the meeting of the Parks and Recreation Committee of the Indianapolis City County Council.

It's December 18th, 2025.

We're going to start with introductions of our uh members to my left, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Mike Doak, District 24.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Jesse Brown, District 13.

Brianne Delaney, District 2.

Good evening, Chairman Boots.

Councillor Christelle Wells, District 11, West Side.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman, Councilor Jarrett Evans, District 17.

Thank you, folks.

My name is Dan Boots, District 3, and I have the honor of chairing this committee.

We're going to start with proposal number 373 2025, which reappoints Larry Bates to the Board of Parks and Recreation.

Mr.

Bates, would you like to please come up and have a seat in the witness box if you will?

And we'll try to be easy on you.

Yes.

The witness box.

So if you could just tell us a little bit about uh your experience thus far and your interest in continuing and uh in your role and some maybe ideas or plans you might have for the next coming year.

Well, uh when I was first appointed, uh I let them know I've been in Indianapolis all my life, and so I've seen parks uh you know just just keep getting added on.

Uh I really feel like uh I have something to some value to add to what we're doing with the parks.

And so there's a lot of things that we do as a committee.

Uh I think that takes things in the right direction as far as the monies that we expand.

So I feel like that's really part of why I'm there.

Sure.

Any grand plans for 2026 that you really want to see come to fruition?

Well, uh, I'd like to see some more family centers at some of our parks.

Uh, and I'd like to see some of the parks that that exist uh be better maintained.

I think several of us on this committee share those aspirations.

Uh, any questions of the members of Mr.

Bates?

Yes, Councillor Evans.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Good evening, sir.

Um, I appreciate the comments that you just made.

And one of the things that I like to remind our appointees, those are things we have to hear.

Uh, for too long, our appointees come before us and are expected to be approved without us hearing from them about what is going on within the enterprise that they're appointed to.

And we need to understand these issues, and you have a front seat to what's going on, and anything that you can ever relay to us is good information for us to have.

Uh we all I think know here at this table, parks is not funded appropriately.

It's a frustrating fact with the enterprise.

So appreciate your comments that you've made and look forward to supporting you.

Encourage you to communicate with us as we move forward and even come back to this committee just to give us an update from things on your perspective.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

You have the question, yes, Councillor Delaney.

I just wanted to say thank you for listening to the constituents in my district.

Um, we had an issue that came before the parks board, and I know it's a little probably a little bit unusual to hear from um residents of the city, but I just want to say thank you.

Any other questions or comments?

Seeing none to hear motion.

Seconded, second.

All those in favor of reappointing Larry Bates of the Board of Parks and Recreation, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed, same.

Hearing none, Mr.

Bates, thank you so much.

And we look forward to seeing you again periodically.

Uh Councillor Evans.

Uh, I repeat his uh uh suggestion that uh coming back to talk to us, uh present your ideas, present your concerns.

I mean, it takes a team here, so we'd be looking forward to hearing from you.

I appreciate that.

Yeah, and uh I'm gonna have to evacuate up.

I'm gonna play starting at seven o'clock.

So yeah.

Shakespeare.

Actually, I'm playing the innkeeper.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Happy holidays.

Everybody else too.

Yes.

All right, next, we're gonna uh see a presentation and hear a presentation from uh director Crone on the parks fee adjustment update.

Director Crone, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and thank you, committee, for convening this evening.

It's always wonderful to see everyone and uh hear your your feedback.

And um as always, I'd like to say my my first six months have been um phenomenal in in the sense of learning and getting to know our parks team and and really connecting with all of you and learning about your priorities for your districts.

Um so thank you all for for your year of service here.

Thank you for um welcoming me in the first six months, the ways you have and and also challenging us as a department.

We have an incredible team at Indy Parks.

You'll hear me say that probably every committee meeting.

And this year has been exceptionally interesting and fun and also challenging in some really important ways.

So we are grateful for the opportunity to be before you all and thank you so much for your service that we won't see you until the new year.

So thank you to each and every one of you to the team as well.

So our presentation this evening will be to share the updates the Parks Board approved on Tuesday, December 16th for our 2026 fees and charges.

This is something that we've talked about in this committee and have also heard feedback on from our board.

Some general information about fees and charges that I wanted to highlight is that we do adjust fees most years, including 2021 through 2025.

Some are park-specific fees or program specific or to reflect a new building or facility.

I appreciate our team very much for taking a larger and more comprehensive review of these fees this year.

This will be a multi-year review process that will continue into 2026.

As we know our park system and park systems across the country require diverse funding sources, and this is just one piece of those considerations.

So to start off with some background and context for these changes, as we all know, our parks department has been very fortunate to see over 150 million in capital investments to our parks in recent years.

However, due to the impact of property tax changes and SEA one, we need to continually look at diversifying and growing our funding sources to keep up with the cost of doing business.

As a reminder, of course, new revenue in 2026 will be added to our 2027 budget.

So at the same time, um I would be remiss to not say that we are always mindful of being the most affordable option for residents.

You may recall the IU Public Policy Institute study from a few years ago that highlighted the value of our programs and what would be charged in the private market for these programs.

Specifically, when we look at our aquatics adjustments, we are proposing, we remain more affordable than our surrounding areas and in line with what other cities around the state charge, like Evansville, Fort Wayne, and South Bend.

That's especially true when you think about the 26% cumulative inflation rate since 2019.

And as a one more reminder for context throughout the presentation, our parks general fund budget for 2026 is 33 million dollars, and our overall budget is 53 million dollars.

So now we'll go into five specific proposals that the Parks Board approved this week.

We also anticipate some increased revenue as a note for newer amenities like Grassy Creek that will be online for a full year in 2026.

For our first proposal, we are adjusting our aquatics general admission fees by one dollar.

You all have some additional information in your packets about general admission for pools, but those will now range from three to six dollars based on location, which is in line with the range we see in other Indiana cities like South Bend, Fort Wayne, and Evansville.

This will be the first adjustment to aquatics fees in seven years, and it will help us keep up with the cost of chemicals, utilities, and staffing.

The big takeaway here is that for every one dollar we are seeing in revenue, we are actually spending six dollars to operate our pools.

This adjustment is better balanced as it brings an additional 105 dollars in revenue above what we saw in 2025.

The second change was to adjust shelter rental pricing by 10 to 25 dollars.

As a note, our shelters are rented at a daily, not hourly rate.

Many of our parks have seen new shelters with new nearby amenities in recent years, and this proposal specifically will help us build on 2024 revenue, which is the last full year of data, with an additional 65,960 in revenue.

Next is our plan to adjust room rentals by 20 an hour at nearly all of our facilities.

We did adjust some rentals at the end of 2024, but only by five to ten dollars.

And with a lot of new facilities plus higher staff and utility costs, we needed to look at adjustments more broadly.

This allows us to boost revenue by an estimated $50,085 without drastically increasing costs at any individual location, keeping these amenities affordable and accessible.

Moving on to proposal number four, we are adjusting daily point of sale fees from one to three dollars, except for Eagle Creek, which was adjusted recently in 2024.

Some examples of this point of sale are open gyms, weight rooms, and skate rentals.

Most of these fees have been in the same range since 2020.

And as we talk about affordability, we are one of the cheapest points of sale entries in the Midwest, and especially in our new facilities that have higher quality amenities like Douglas and Cranert Wake Wait Rooms, excuse me.

This proposal is estimated to increase revenue by 41,280.

Finally, proposal five created a new hundred dollar alcohol fee for special events with alcohol.

This is a common practice for cities like Cincinnati, Columbus, and Chicago.

Our special events with alcohol fluctuate year to year, but you see we generally have 30 to 50 events each year.

So with that, I do thank you for the conversations and feedback you all have shared with us about revenue.

Um even in my first six months, the feedback that I heard from you all was impactful.

And we also thank you for your time listening tonight.

Combined, we estimate that these changes would lead to an additional 262,774 dollars in revenue for 2026, which we believe will help ensure the department is able to maintain the amenities and programs that residents enjoy.

I think it bears repeating that we are currently spending more than six dollars on aquatics for every dollar we make in emissions.

These proposals that the Parks Board approved will help us better balance the the needs and costs of business going forward, and with that, we are happy to take any of your questions or comments.

Thank you, Director.

Um Councillor Delaney.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um, I think that this is a great start.

I know I mentioned to you in a previous meeting that you should really look at the fees, and I know that's been discussed a lot in our meetings.

Um, but like I said, I think this is a great start, and I think that parks could go further.

Um I referenced previously that there's an event at one of the parks in our in my district, and the usage goes like there's rights of entry permits, and they're not they're not being charged for those rights of entry permits.

So I know that there are more permits that parks issues, and although I'm not an expert on all of them that aren't mentioned here.

So I think the alcohol permit, which is something that you all process, I think that's a great idea to bring a fee to that, but I know that there are other permits that your part that parks does do that you could charge fees for processing and the staff time and energy that it takes to do that.

So I think and I know you said you're gonna continue to look at this into 2026.

So I would encourage you to keep going with what you're doing and how you're looking at it.

So thank you.

Thank you, counselor.

Any other questions, yes, Counselor Brown?

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

And yeah, thank you, Director Kern and your whole department.

You've obviously spent a lot of time and energy thinking about this, and I'm well aware this committee has broadly encouraged you to look at new revenue streams because those are important.

Um it is really troubling to see that you know basic services continue to go up in cost.

And you didn't cause that problem.

Um I told everybody this recently, but within the last month, my wife and I went to Taco Bell, and the two of us spent $24.75 on dinner.

So prices are going up.

That's not the parks department, that's not Joe Hoggs' fault.

That's that's nobody's fault.

And as you mentioned, compared to other cities, this is one area where Indianapolis actually was taking the lead in terms of being more affordable.

And so it just it really hurts to, you know, even if it's a necessary step, move in this direction.

I I wonder if you could talk to me a bit about did you consider any options that would be more progressive in terms of revenue collection?

So, yeah, I noticed that there are like 50 or 10 to 55 dollars more we're charging for out-of-county residents.

I'd kind of hose those people personally.

You know, I don't know what percentage that that represents.

Uh, but yeah, what what options did you consider that could have been more able to help low-income people not take a hit where one dollar actually could be a significant chunk of their weekly budget.

Thank you so much for that question, counselor.

I appreciate that perspective.

It's important to myself and and our team as well, Indy Parks.

We are continuing these conversations in our regular revenue recovery uh conversations, and we are looking at different things, right?

So the the out-of-county uh prices are one piece of it, and thank you for catching that.

Um, and additionally, we're looking at our past structures, um, providing some different tiers for folks of lower income and wanting to uh really enshrine the ability for those who are uh seeing lower income in their households still be able to access these programs.

So it's a continued conversation.

Um we're always open to ideas that we're seeing from our sister cities, from our peer cities.

I'm grateful to be a part of a uh a small you know networking group of other urban directors throughout the nation, and we are talking a lot about different different strategies that are being used, and our team is also researching actively and we welcome that feedback from this committee as well, and maybe what you're seeing or hearing and ways that we can continue to keep our services and programs affordable to those who need it, um, even something as simple as our scholarship programs for summer camps and the different um training opportunities that we have, our community swim days, you know, continuing those uh strategies, if you will, those those choices for the public is really important to all of us.

Thank you, and I do definitely acknowledge all the work you do.

I think you work harder than most departments in this uh enterprise to keep things affordable and to really think about low-income people.

So no personal aspirations uh intended at all to you or any of your staff.

Um and I still wonder, you know, if we're looking at less than what, 275,000 over the course of a year, you know, how how much of a piece of that could it just be an honor system, like let us know if you can't afford it, and we'll let you in.

You know, like do we think every resident would lie and and and not pay if we indicate how struggling our parks were?

It's just something I'm considering.

Thank you, counselor.

Definitely take that feedback to the group.

Thank you.

Yes, Counselor Evans.

Thank you, Chairman Roots.

I must admit I'm somewhat hesitant to support this.

Um not that I'm opposed to increasing fees to for all the reasons you've explained.

What I'm more concerned about is that there's not a holistic plan to increase funding that will make a difference in these parks because I think what you've outlined in the revenue, and and I would appreciate if you could speak to how you would use that additional revenue.

That doesn't seem like that's adequate enough to address the concerns that I've both seen and heard from constituents, whether it's um a consistent issue of garbage being collected at these parks and no one's picking it up, whether it's the mowings are not being done, the high weeds, uh facilities that are consistently um closing for various repairs.

So that's hard, and again, it's not because I'm opposed, it's because we're gonna add a little bit more pain to people for a small amount of money that I don't really know if it'll address anything, and there's no bigger picture for how we're going to fund our park system.

Um, when I I hear the comment about the the aquatic center and the cost of it, it's no different than trails.

Trails don't really bring us money in the sense of there's a dollar amount that comes back when we build them, but we know it's a quality of life thing, it's an amenity that our citizens expect.

Um in fact, I I mean you've heard me say multiple times, it's it's an area of an improvement that our city has to have at some point.

When you know, we we keep talking about citizens leaving our city and going to donut counties.

This is this is part of the reason.

So I I just wanted to say that comment, but also could you speak to how is the additional revenue?

I you're saying it won't come into fold until 2027 budget.

Do you have any ideas on how you would use it that might be able to address some of those concerns?

Like when I think about the um the shelters, I know that that's been an issue in the past, um, cleanliness of them and things of that nature.

Thank you for the question, counselor, and we appreciate your comments as well.

Um the overall budget uh and the ability to as a leadership team and and as an entire department prioritize where the gaps may appear due to recent funding cuts is is the direction we're looking to go with this.

So having the ability, you know, uh innocent in the title of revenue recovery, you know, looking at how do we shore up some gaps that were created by those recent changes, you know, that were out of our control, and being able to identify the needs as they evolve uh with our community and see you know how can we put these additional dollars, you know, uh over 200,000 dollars, you know, it in the grand scheme of things may not seem like much to a lot of folks, and at the same time, we believe we could put it to good use through that prioritization process and having regular touch points within our department on identifying what's needed.

Um I think during our budget presentation, there were a few examples shared of what could potentially could be um lost and and things that we would have to cut and through this process uh thanks to the board's approval, we'll be able to shore up those gaps and then look at the future as well.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Yes, Counter Delaney.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um I want to echo uh what counselor Brown said in terms of making sure that we're not overcharging the folks that can't use it our system the most.

And I again I know you're gonna be continuing to look at this until next year.

Um, but I didn't want to make let my comment go about increasing fees go, you know, and and by that I meant to the folks that could pay the most because they're able to use the park for multiple days on end, and so I we're not gonna be charging the folks that can't pay when I was talking about increasing fees, and and the opposite of that is the folks that can't pay, we want to make sure that they're able to use our parks as well.

Um counselor Evans point, I don't know if anybody from OFM is here, but I would encourage them to make sure that that revenue stays with you and that they're not withdrawing an additional 260 from the general fund is your fund like as it's a game that they play to move money around.

I hope that that this money is an additional to your budget and it's not just padding the county budget overall and they're gonna take it from somewhere else.

So I encourage um our controller to make sure that that revenue stays with parks.

Thank you.

Maybe we'll advocate for that as well.

Yes, Catherine Brown.

Yeah, I just want to indicate you know, for the reasons I mentioned, I do plan on voting no for the first four of the proposals.

To me, alcohol is not something you have a right to, and you know, I don't think charging people a hundred dollars you'd have to.

I think there's probably some revenue they're bringing in if they're charging alcohol.

I'm more comfortable with that.

Um I'd be pretty frustrated with that because this committee asked you to find revenue, you found revenue, and I'm voting no.

Um, I hope my answers made sense.

You know, I do want the parks uh department to be successful, but just want to give that context.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Brown.

Yes, Counselor Dilck.

Thank you, Director.

I uh appreciate your presentation.

I just had one comment.

You made the comment that Indy Parks is the cheapest.

I think it's the least expensive, not the cheapest.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, sir.

Well put.

Um piggybacking on this other point about uh the budget and the revenue and protecting that revenue source.

Uh just to clarify, maybe I'm slow on the uptake here, but when you say revenue made in 2026 would be added to the 27 budget, is that where you're addressing that issue of the money we bring in, we're gonna add to kind of a line item and then following year 27, we're gonna elevate those projections and pro forma accordingly.

Correct.

So the uh we don't see in the City County Enterprise right an immediate return on on any changes we make because our budget for 2026 has already been allocated and identified based on revenue that was brought in uh from the years prior.

So we just wanted to make that additional clarity uh that anything we see increase um in our revenue beyond our initial budget presented this year will be allocated in 2027.

Okay.

So you're correct.

On the point of progressive options, what what are your thoughts on impact fees?

I think creative solutions are important, and we are you know here representing um our administration and we are open to hearing any and all ideas.

Uh we want to absolutely see a sustainable solutions.

We believe having realistic fees um while providing for our lower income neighbors to to access the amenities that we offer as a park system is important.

Have you done a study or analysis of any of the donut county communities on their impact fee structure?

To the to date, I don't believe we have.

Um I'll ask my chief communications officer.

Do you know if we've done that research?

So we we have not.

I will say one thing that we've noticed when we talk with our other park agencies around the state.

So Carmel is pretty well known for their impact fees.

Um but they are also facing a funding shortfall themselves, right?

So we they've seen, you know, when they've been able to rely on those, it's helpful, right?

But it's not been necessarily a silver bullet for them.

And they and they kind of see similar issues to what we'll be seeing over in future years again, thanks to the uh property tax changes and other considerations that you know they they've been successful in the past as a growing community with that, uh, but have seen more constraints come online recently.

And um I've seen it's also been part of their conversation just around approving zoning changes and things like that, where they say we have to consider the impact fees, not even necessarily the project, but we have to consider the impact fees.

So just some a little bit of context there from what we have looked at.

Yeah.

Would it be possible at your next quarterly update to provide kind of maybe just a survey of the impact fees in Central Indiana?

Uh having none and correct me if I'm wrong, but does not Carmel impact fee for the parks seven thousand five hundred dollars?

Don't know exactly.

We can get back to you.

Yeah, okay.

That's just a number I've I've read in the past, and thinking that every time you take out a permit or something of that sort, there's 7,500 go straight to parks.

That number adds up.

So we're just thinking along the lines of progressive revenue sources.

I'd I think we could use a little more analysis of that.

Any other questions, comments?

Seeing none, Director, thank you so much.

Thank you very much.

Happy holidays and happy new year to you all.

Yes.

All right, next we're gonna have a presentation from our distinguished colleague Blake Johnson, interim CEO of Parks Alliance, and it's gonna be an update on the performance.

Um Director Johnson and I thought it'd be a good idea that we have never are this committee in now or even previously had never sat down and broke bread with the alliance.

Where's the bread?

Yeah.

Across the street at Whole Foods.

All right, I'll take it.

Uh so we thought this would be a good opportunity to see what kind of they're doing, their thoughts, their you know, our philanthropic arm for parks and uh play a very important role in the maintenance and preservation and improvement of our parks.

So we thought it was worthy of a presentation.

So floor is yours, sir.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman, members of the committee.

I have to admit, um, when you cast your votes a little bit ago, I almost said I.

I'm not used to being in this room and not participating in votes.

Um, so it's good to be back.

Uh as was mentioned, you know, I took over uh 15 months ago as the interim CEO uh with the intention that I would serve until the end of this year.

Um and one of the first things that I discovered, and it won't surprise you that I think the legislative branch of government is the most important and best uh branch of government, um, that we as an organization had not made a practice of coming annually to share with you what we've been up to.

And I think that's problematic for a couple reasons.

One information is illustrative of a relationship, uh, especially as it relates to government.

And um our our having not come to share what's working, what's not working, how we could better partner.

I think was was short-sighted.

So I'm excited that we're here, even if it's in my last three days on the job, uh, to share uh some information with you all.

Um, but also I I just want to indicate that unlike any other agency uh in the city of Indianapolis, the Parks Department does have a partner that is nonprofit, that is nimble, uh, that is able to support in a way uh that is that is really powerful with the power to be impactful.

And so here at the end, I'm gonna talk about dollars and cents.

Um, and I think we're just at the beginning of what can be a truly transformative investment in the parks through uh through our work at the Parks Alliance.

So, first and foremost, I want it to be clear that we are entirely mission-aligned with Indie Parks.

Um maybe there have been times throughout our history where we've tried to do our own thing, but part of the task I was given in coming on board uh was to ensure we were completely aligned and that we were not stepping outside of uh a commitment to just serve indie parks and make sure that the strategic needs that were being identified uh were being met.

And so we've aligned all of our actions to needs of parks.

We pursue opportunities for all 200 plus indie parks, uh, and we serve as a non-profit engine.

So that's that's nimble.

Um you imagine sometimes a project that could take no offense to our our our city as a whole, a project that might take a very, very long time.

If we're able to raise private dollars for it, we can speed up that process uh exponentially.

And so we we attempted to do that.

So I want to talk just a little bit about 2025 and sort of what we've been able uh to do here.

Um first uh thanks to uh support from the Nine and Mason Polium Charitable Trust, uh we were able to lead an effort to design and kind of imagine what a nature center would look like for Riverside Adventure Park.

And so we've been able to get through schematic designs and then some kind of visual representation of what this center could look like.

As you can tell, it's it's beautiful.

Um, it would be uh one of the many things that make Riverside Park uh a nationally recognized and nationally impactful site and green space.

Um so it begins to be an opportunity for us to think about a potential capital campaign to really chase some big ideas.

The second thing I want to mention, this was one month into my time starting the role.

We work very, very closely with the Pacers and Pacers Foundation on court renovations.

And so I know several of you got to attend this particular uh ribbon cutting, but at Frederick Douglass Park, uh we were able to do a renovation that was over a hundred thousand dollars to kind of breathe life into that court and make it a court worthy of the neighbors of that community neighbors in that community, so that those kids can come out there and really enjoy a court that is just world class and that's got the pacers branding on, of course.

And what's great about that day too, if you go back just one second, um we were for those of you I know Christy, you were there.

Uh we were uh I was standing up front uh behind the microphone, and there's just a line of little kids.

I think there was the the little boy that's in my mind still to this moment, was probably five or six years old, and the kids had no idea that as we were about to cut the ribbon, the starting five were gonna come out and join them on the court.

And so you had a front row seat to these kids just having their minds blown that Tyrese Halliburton uh was coming over to play basketball with them in just a few moments.

So the work is extraordinary and transformative, and moments like this that for you know, having been a city counselor, I know sometimes we cut some ribbons and uh you don't realize that that little boy will never forget that moment in his entire life.

So very, very cool.

Another court uh was done through the WMBA um all-star legacy project.

Uh so this um was Alp Holland, right?

Alpollin, uh, where we did uh a mural local artist uh and we're able to renovate this court as well.

Again, um, new rims and blackboards, uh again, um you know courts can fall apart, and when we have an opportunity to bring them back to life and show a community uh how much we value them and believe that they're worthy of investment, we're happy to be doing that.

And then this is another uh uh in the work project.

We presently hold around um right now it's around $800,000 of projects been underway for renovations at Charkington Park.

Uh this is funded in partnership with uh Lily Endowment Incorporated, Butler University, and then we're the fiduciary on it.

So uh playground improvements, uh and you can see that's all under construction right now, and the work is uh work is underway.

Another thing that I I wanted to make sure you all are aware of, because I'm not sure that this this gets a lot of attention, uh, is corporate days of service.

Uh we have a number of these that make an extraordinary impact in our parks.

Uh the one we'll mention first is AES.

AES is the longest um uh corporate sponsor of the Parks Alliance and does an annual day of service in the park system.

Uh the impact is uh hundreds of thousands of dollars because it's not just the actual cash value, it is them coming in using their expertise to do work that would take, and I've said this before in my remarks at these events, the work that was accomplished over the two years by AES we would say would take five or six years for us to accomplish as a department, but in reality, it may never have gotten done.

Um so just really transformative amount of work, and that's obviously a large group of folks in there.

Citizens Energy Group also does a day of service.

Um, they bring in experts uh from a number of different contractors.

So everyone who does business with citizens, they're essentially told we're getting together on this day to transform a park facility.

Uh again, almost hard to measure the actual impact because of the um the skilled services that are deployed.

Um, but I think we were able to put the most recent day of service at 400,000 of impact in the parks uh from Citizens Energy and their parts.

And this is the last slide here, but we also have for the Ross this year.

Yeah, I want to mention um uh Bertha Ross.

We had an anonymous philanthropic partner come in, um, which actually represents the work they did plus the cash investment, um, actually represents the largest single day cash investment and impact from staff that we've ever had.

Um, and so I would love to say who it is, but I can't.

And we're so grateful that they joined us and made an enormous impact out there, including putting in uh a walking path around the perimeter of the park, uh, which was just incredible.

What you may know about us are the events that we put on throughout the year.

Um, the first uh and most notably being the um the lunch report.

And so I know you're always invited, and we we love that you come and join us.

This event is our signature event.

I think anyone in the city who knows Park Science would know that we throw uh the fun lunch as city counselors as a legislator, you get invited to a lot of lunches.

Most of them are sort of boring.

Um, ours is definitely not that.

Uh we we bring uh the right vibe, there's usually playground equipment, um the the place settings are uh about bringing you an experience that's related to fun and connection.

Uh and so this event um raises between 250 and 300,000 uh that we can then invest back in parks and the mission of supporting parks.

Additionally, uh a bingo night, we do bingo night for parks.

This is our our last event of the year.

Um doesn't raise as much money, but definitely is a significant friend raiser uh for the organization and reminds folks as they go into the end of the year that parks is a worthy place to make investment.

And then we added this year, it's interesting.

Um I remember David and Autumn, we were in the office, and I remember just saying, Do you want why don't we do why don't we do a golf outing?

We have assets that we have complete access to.

Um it had not been something we'd done in the past.

So uh we were excited to launch the first ever par for parks this year.

I know counselor Boots played fairly well in it.

Excellent.

Okay, great.

20 under par.

Um so we we had a great turnout for this.

Uh we had 20 team, 25 teams.

25 teams played down at winding river golf course.

Uh, just an extraordinary opportunity.

And I want you all to mention to my colleague representative Justin Moad that we included him on a slide with a band-aid on his nose.

Yeah.

So he'll love that.

And then uh early in the year, we host a Park 5K.

Um David, you want to talk about this one just a little bit?

Sure, absolutely.

Yep.

So we've done it in Riverside Park every year.

Um, this is one of our few events that uh invites people to come out and actually enjoy the parks as they are.

So this year we kind of take a different path through Riverside every year.

This time we will actually start on the uh west side of the river by our office, go up the Soapbox Derby Hill, and if you participate, you'll be one of the first to cross the 30th Street Bridge, which I'm sure you're aware of.

So uh pedestrian crossing will be available for the bridge, and then you'll end at Gookman House.

Um, which again, then being close to the park, they're just a great supporting partner of our work and uh outdoors.

Great.

And what was the date for that?

It is the 7th, February 7th.

It's cool, it's a cold one, so you gotta be ready for that.

And then uh the month of July, uh, we spend that entire month celebrating parks and recreation month, celebrating the incredible team of people who make our parks what they are.

Uh this includes uh give backs at bars and restaurants.

Uh and really what's interesting about this is this is a place where we know we have a lot of room to maximize even further to include more restaurants, include more breweries, uh, to ensure that folks uh have an opportunity to make a small investment just in getting a pint or stopping by for a sandwich.

Uh great partners like Gugman actually developed a beer for us for the month of July.

Um, what am I missing?

Um well, one significant partner is Tinker Coffee, just that they're one of our few partners that allows a roundup all month long, and sometimes they even go into August as well.

So you know, the cents on the dollar can add up pretty quick.

And seeing how they have a nice location very close to here.

I hope in July, all of your coffee orders will now be from Tinker.

Okay, here's where I wanted to give you all kind of full transparency.

Um, and and I will say that uh we have all not always done a good job of of sharing this information clearly, and we are happy to be making that make a new tone here today with you all.

Um when uh when I took over 15 months ago, um we were a little lopsided.

Often our expenses outpaced our revenue.

It's no longer the case.

Um this year, we are uh in the black for the first time since 2017.

Um our total revenue this year was uh through it's and we still have money coming in through December, um, and so this doesn't count anything that's coming December yet, which is actually been thousands of dollars.

Um, but uh we're at 3.5 million dollars raised this year.

Um the on the operational side that comes into what we got we'll make try to close down our uh our friends talking to us.

Um $3.5 million.

We uh in terms of the goals we had outside of grants, we were 101% of our our goal.

Our grants um obviously put us way over at to be 3.5, and you can kind of see how it breaks down between individual uh corporate contributions, grants and endowments, our special events, uh grants administrations, we take a small administrative fee to help us manage uh all the disbursements and whatnot that come along with grants, um, some marginal investment income, and then there was uh an employee retention credit that came in this year that added a little bit to our bottom line.

And then our expenses you can see here, um point eight seven million dollars spent this year.

Um we hold presently 1.9 million dollars for deployment into the park system.

Um, another change that's happened last year is that um we hadn't always shared kind of a breakdown on how those monies could be deployed by the parks department.

Now the parks department receives a quarterly update on exactly how much money exists in certain accounts to be spent on whether it'd be maintenance or our general use at Taggart or aquatics, where we we hold quite a bit of money now that can be deployed to help when needs pop up.

And the thing I think I am most proud of in my time uh running this organization is that um at the end of this year it's gonna be higher than this.

Uh, but for every dollar we spent out of our organization in 2025, 65 cents on it was a direct investment into parks.

It was not to pay our salaries, it was not to keep the lights on.

65 cents and every dollar we spent went right back into parks.

Um and I hope uh my my successor is here.

I know you were gonna have an opportunity for her to say hello in just a moment.

Um my hope is that that we we keep that number there and going up.

Um it's it's a it's a very, very big difference from where we used to be.

And we're the team worked very, very hard.

We we looked at every dollar going out our door, we we made expenses, cut our we cut our expense budget by half uh this year, uh, and still were able to deliver, I think, one of our our best years yet as an organization.

So um I guess in closing, uh you know, having sat in your seats and had to share a microphone when microphones didn't work and all of that.

Um I I want this council to understand that um in moments where the question is how are we gonna find the extra dollars?

Uh that you have a partner and that the director has a partner, the department has a partner who is thinking about that every single day.

And so as ideas come up, um I hope you'll also share them with us because we want to be um at your right hand, at the city's right hand in solving this issue.

We know that the gap between where we need to be and where we are is insurmountable at times.

Uh and we know that we have the power to be an organization that is at 10 and 20 million dollars in support of what's happening at parks, and that's what we're chasing.

And um I'm very excited that my successor, who I hope you'll give an opportunity to say hello, uh, is poised to do that in a way that I, you know, I'm I'm but a uh Ford Pinto, and we've now got a Cadillac coming in uh to take over.

So, or whatever the nicer car than a Cadillac is.

I'm from the country, so Cadillacs were always the nicest car you could uh you could have.

So yeah, thank you so much and happy to answer any questions.

Pardon?

Are you at least a pinto?

I that's what I'm saying.

I'm a Ford Pinto.

You go or the pen, I'm comfortable with the Pinto.

Comfortable with the Pinto.

Wonderful.

Well, Mike, you want to introduce your successor?

Please introduce Jenny Boyd's Jenny, that microphone right there, George.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's good to be with you all.

Um, and even more excited to kind of uh carry the the torch um of so much of the good work that Blake has done.

So just on behalf of I think everybody, thank you, Blake, and hopefully you all share, and and at least my gratitude um for where you've put and position this organization.

Um I for those folks who I don't know, my name is Jenny Boitz.

Um, and I uh hail from Texas originally, but I've been a Hoosier now for 15 plus years or so.

Um actually was an athlete, a college athlete, so never left.

Indy deadwood indie does and and stuck around.

Um I'm really really excited to kind of step into this role.

My entire career has really been built on in nonprofit management, so specifically in community development, um, nonprofit real estate development, public private partnership fundraising.

Um I took a brief stint away from that uh and have been leading an organization called 45 Presents for the last three years.

So folks may be familiar with the Vogue Theater, other live music around the city, um, some of which happens in uh Indie Parks.

Um and so have been able to grow that organization to what it is today and feel really glad and excited to leave it in the place that it is and the impact that it's making in the city.

Uh yeah, I mean I think I've also probably and and multiple conversations and wearing different hats have intersected with all of you, and I'm grateful and excited about this role.

I think I hope that you all feel certainly in this first phase of kind of me transitioning in, um, really specifically three things.

I think the first one is leading with curiosity.

So for me, how am I like listening to funders, partners, so many of you all community members, um, and and kind of taking that to heart and listening and learning.

I think also stabilizing.

So, Blake, you know, it's just uh quickly, but I would say, you know, in the last 15 months, it was a long dredge, and so he quickly summarized for you the ways in which he's stabilizing hope is to continue that because a good and strong and sustainable at the end of the day.

Park science is good for all of you, it's good for Director Crohn and the Parks Department, um, and ultimately good for the city too.

And then, yeah, I think I would just you know hope that we stay focused as as a as the alliance here and and what does that mean?

Uh really is so much of what he's done and just shared around kind of operational focus and operational efficiencies.

That we're doing the same thing every day.

This team is really kind of mission-aligned as as Blake shared with uh the Parks Department, so much of what you all are doing on the day-to-day.

So I think you summed it up really well, and I think it's um really been exciting to think of of us as an asset and a tool for you all as I kind of look to the new year and certainly look to the ways in which we want to be um helpful and thoughtful um and also really materially impactful for you all, filling gaps, uh whether it's a partnerships or financial fundraising um opportunities.

We'll we'll do that.

So glad to be with you all.

I think my my hope is that we continue to find time um on a consistent basis to update you to the depth and degree, you know.

We can we can talk about and discuss, but but um I'm here and excited to to continue to share and engage in this work with all of you.

Wonderful.

Might we have any questions of uh director boitz?

Oh you got it right, right?

And there we go, I practiced.

Yes.

Um I always just like to ask this question.

What are you what is your grand aspiration for short term versus long term?

Yeah, I mean, I probably would have you know, I I would have walked into this room maybe with a different answer, but even listening to some of the conversation.

I think what's true is there's just it's you know, somebody used the word maybe grossly underfunded the way the parks is, and I think the ways in which Director Cron and so many others have just had to kind of pull and leverage uh and pennies in some ways, right, to make some sort of material impact.

I think my hope in Grand Vision is that we're uh not only filling the gap of those pennies, but we are actually bringing big dollars to the table that are materially impactful for you all for some of the big dreams and the big stuff that we know we've all been thinking and talking about.

Um, and so yeah, my hope would be just to walk alongside and to make sure that you guys feel like we can dream and that we don't have to just pinch pennies.

Um, and you know, obviously the impact that makes on our communities is the most important.

So that would be my hope for I think the parks alliance.

Great.

Yeah.

Well, I know I think uh Counselor Evans mentioned this.

Historically, we we've almost been offended by the underfunding of parks.

It it it hurts us to see what parks has to go through.

So you you have a partner on our side too.

We are fighting at the budget, we're fighting the state house, we're fighting Senate Bill One.

Yeah, um, but we are kicking and scratching for the parks department uh in the budget, so you can count on that coming up for uh next year.

Well, I'm in the fight with you, so yes, yeah, that'd be good to be.

Well, thank you.

We look forward to working with you.

Yes, Council Brown.

I I guess just thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Uh, and thank you for the presentation.

Thanks for the presentation, Director Johnson.

Um need an answer tonight, but just something I'll be continued to want to hear more about from your perspective.

How do we incentivize?

Like what carrots do we have to encourage those awesome uh contributions on the days of service, etc.

Like what could we do in terms of city policy to make it easier for corporate or NGO partners to say yes to something like that?

So it's a great question.

Good flag.

Yes, it will thank you so much, Mr.

Chairman.

Excuse me, welcome aboard.

Thank you and farewell.

Um, I had a 79 Ford Pinto.

Uh you had to crank the flywheel.

No, no.

Depends on anyway.

Um question about impact fees, and forgive me if I'm not quite following.

So let's say corporate organization wants to host major event.

Do those impact fees go directly to the city, or would they be sort of tax deductible and payable to a nonprofit organization?

And would that maybe be a carrot that then would be like a tax incentive or something like this?

Um so at present, right?

Um, that is one of the carrots, right?

So uh it's difficult to make a direct investment in city parks as a corporation, even if you really believe in it.

So we are the option to do that, and then you obviously have the the ability to be tax incentivized to do so.

Um impact fees are obviously a different public policy discussion.

Where what we focus on are sponsorship, corporate investment, uh grant investment to fund big ideas, and so um I I suspect in an impact fee model often that is direct impact on city budgets, whereas we operate uh alongside as an option for individuals or corporations to have a tax and incentivized way to make a difference in their park system.

Right.

Kind of been a similar vegetable council.

Wells the one percent public art stipend is something that is dedicated.

So when you take an incentive from the city, the one percent goes into the arts fund and it goes to Indy Arts, it's dedicated.

So I think we could structure it any way we want.

It's just a legislative matter.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Sure.

Any other comments or questions?

Seeing none, this meeting is adjourned.

Thank you, folks, and have a happy holiday.

Happy holidays.

See you later.

Thanks.