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Minneapolis park & recreation board
restores programs and services
At their meeting on June 4, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation
Board decided to reinstate a number of services after reviewing
the budgets passed by the State Legislature. The service cuts had
been enacted on March 19 in anticipation of even greater cuts to
Local Government Aid (the state program that provides a substantial
portion of the Board’s operating budget).
The Board decided to restore a total of $272,00 in programs after
reviewing the comprise budgets agreed to during the Legislative
Session. “Although the Park Board is still facing major budget
cuts, we were happy to learn that the budget cuts as proposed by
Governor Pawlenty did not materialize,” said Board President
Bob Fine. “The work of our City Legislators helped our situation
immensely.”
The Board decided to reinstate chemical toilets at all guarded beaches
and summer playground locations, and a guarded beach was added at
Lake Hiawatha, resulting in one beach lake staffed this summer.
Four additional Teen Teamworks youth employment programs crews (comprised
of ten youths each) will be added to the scaled back program. The
Summer Stars Outdoor Supervision program at neighborhood parks will
be funded. In addition, tree stump removal services will be provided
this summer, and partial restoration of the moving program reduction
was made.
According to Fine, the Park Board will “make use of the valuable
information gathered through the various citizen input strategies
regarding how Minneapolis residents feel about specific park programs
and services to make final budget decisions for 2004.”
The Park Board is also devoting time at its meetings on July 9 and
August 13 to work on its 2004 budget proposals. On September 3 the
Board of Estimate and Taxation will hold a public hearing on 2004
maximum property tax levies and will set the 2004 levy one week
later on September 10. The Park Board budget will be finalized on
December 16, when the City Council approves the entire 2004 budget
for the City of Minneapolis.
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