Three Public Hearings Shaped the Park Board's Budget Before It Passed

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board adopted its $160 million 2026 budget on Dec. 9, 2025, capping a process that ran the spending plan through two public hearings before commissioners voted. The hearings, both at 6:05 p.m. in Room 350 of the Public Service Center at 250 South Fourth St., were held Nov. 19 and again Dec. 9 just before the final vote.

The schedule is fixed by law. The Board of Estimate and Taxation set the maximum levy first, approving a 6.11 percent increase on Sept. 17, 2025. Superintendent Al Bangoura then released his recommended budget on Oct. 15, and the plan moved through committee review and the two hearings before adoption. The levy increase works out to about $22 a year on a median Minneapolis home valued at $333,400. The $160 million total breaks down into a $114.4 million general operating fund, $17.3 million enterprise fund, $2.2 million special revenue fund and $26.4 million in capital projects.

"This year's budget process was challenging," board President Cathy Abene said in announcing the adoption. "We continued to face pressure to limit increases in residential property taxes while hearing loud and clear from the community that they want service levels maintained — or even enhanced." The budget directs money toward aging park assets, natural-resource protection, youth programming and employee investment.

For Lowry Hill and the lakes neighborhoods, the hearings are the most direct way to influence how park dollars are spent, whether the priority is a trail, a shoreline restoration, youth programming or tree care. Showing up or submitting written comment at the hearing stage carries more weight than objecting after adoption, because the broad shape of the budget is still being weighed. Since the levy ceiling is set in September and the superintendent's plan lands in October, the most influential window opens earlier than most people expect.

The Park Board posts its budget calendar, hearing dates and comment instructions at minneapolisparks.org, where residents can sign up to speak or submit written comment.