The following item was circulated by the MPRB.

Minneapolis Park Board’s 2017 Budget Focuses on Fiscal Responsibility, Service Delivery, and Implementation of the 20 Year Neighborhood Park Plan

On Wednesday, December 7, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) adopted its 2017 budget for the park system, which serves more than 22 million visits annually.

The budget focuses on enhanced maintenance, rehabilitation and capital investments for neighborhood parks, continued sound fiscal management, providing responsive service delivery to meet the changing demographics and needs of the community, and, for the first time, implementing a racial equity tool throughout the budget process.

“The 2017 budget fully integrates the 20 Year Neighborhood Park Plan into the MPRB budget and is the first MPRB annual budget to use a racial equity lens for budget decisions,” explained MPRB Superintendent Jayne Miller. “The 2017 budget continues to reflect the MPRB’s commitment to strategic long-term planning by focusing on sustainable funding, supporting ongoing operations, addressing threats to the urban tree canopy, continuing refinement and implementation of operating efficiencies and targeted service delivery, and aligning employment and asset investments to meet changing demographic needs across the city.”

As the demographics of Minneapolis have changed and continue to change, the Park Board is working hard to be responsive to the changing needs of the city’s current community and plan for the needs of future residents through more diverse service delivery, modifications to the system of parks and park assets to meet the diverse needs of residents, the updating of policies that demonstrate the respect of varied cultural values and needs, and the expanded employment of a diverse workforce at all levels of the organization.