Item 4A. 2026 Scott County – Three Rivers Partnership Proposed Budget

Recommendation:

NO ACTION REQUIRED; THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.

Prepared By: Patricia Freeman, General Manager of Scott County Parks and Howard D. Koolick, Three Rivers Park District Director of Finance/CFO; with input from a variety of Park District and Scott County staff.

Background:

On December 16, 2010, the Park District and Scott County entered into a joint powers agreement that defines the roles and responsibilities for operations and maintenance of all regional park facilities in Scott County. The agreement requires the preparation and adoption of an annual budget. The staff listed above, along with Brad Chock, Director of Maintenance, Lynn Stoltzmann, Director of Facilities, Tom Balk and Justin Markeson (supervisors for the parks in Scott County) and other staff have met and developed budget recommendations for 2026.

2026 Budget Overview

The recommended 2026 Scott County-Three Rivers Partnership budget strives to:

• Continue to provide high-quality services at four regional parks (Cleary Lake, Spring Lake Park, Doyle-Kennefik and Cedar Lake Farm), two park reserve (Murphy Hanrahan and Blakely Bluffs) and 16 miles of regional trails.
• Continue natural resources management throughout the Scott County Parks.

The recommended budget includes staffing, supplies, and services to meet these goals and is funded primarily by a contribution from Scott County, park use fees and grants from the Metropolitan Council.

The 2026 budget totals $3.93 million. The following table compares the 2025 and 2026 budgets.

The proposed budget includes increases in revenue from park user fees, the Met Council Equity Grant and the Scott County contribution.

• Park Use Revenue - An increase of $69,985
  • Golf Revenues - An increase in green fees from $16 to $18 per round plus increases in most golf revenue streams based on collections over the past several years.
  • Other Park Use Revenue - A decrease in several winter recreation estimates based on historical collections that factor in the past two years of little to no snow for skiing.
• Met Council Wellness Grant - An increase of $20,964 to fund the increased cost of the Wellness Coordinator whose FTE was increased during 2025 in order to expand the wellness program.
• Scott County Contribution - An increase of $128,829 to fund the increased operating costs for staff wages and benefits, supplies, equipment operation and maintenance.

Proposed expenditures include costs for operations at existing parks. No new staff is being proposed and minor increases in some expenditures are included based on historical usage and cost.

• Wages and Benefits - An increase of $181,878
  • Includes funding for 25.05 FTE positions based on existing compensation plan.
  • Health Insurance increase of 9.5%
• Supplies - An increase of $5,000 for various maintenance supplies
• Contractual Services - An increase $29,400
  • Fleet Maintenance - $25,000 for increased costs of fuel and maintenance of equipment and vehicles used to maintain parks. Utilities - $4,400 for various utilities at Cedar Lake Farm
• Other - An increase of $3,100 in credit card fees based on increased usage by park guests.

Commissioners will not be asked to approve the budget at this time. The Scott County contribution will be included in the Scott County budget. The Partnership budget will be reviewed and approved by the Three Rivers Park District Board once Scott County has approved its budget. Both approvals are expected to occur in December or early January.

Attachments:

Scott County Budget Presentation for Joint Mtg - Sept 9 2025.pdf