Item 6A. 2026 Scott County-Three Rivers Partnership Budget

CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.

Superintendent's Recommendation:

MOTION TO APPROVE THE 2026 SCOTT COUNTY-THREE RIVERS PARTNERSHIP OPERATING BUDGET IN THE AMOUNT OF $3,930,199.


Prepared By: Patricia Freeman, Scott County Parks and Trails General Manager, and Shaan Hamilton, Chief Financial Officer

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 Tom Balk and Justin Markeson (supervisors for the parks in Scott County) and other staff, reviewed operational needs and compiled a draft 2026 budget.

The budget was presented to both the Three Rivers Park District Board and the Scott County Board at a joint meeting on September 9, 2025. This meeting resulted in general agreement on the recommended budget. The Scott County Board approved its contribution as part of their overall County Budget on December 16, 2025. The last step in the process is for the Three Rivers Board to approve the budget.

The 2026 Scott County-Three Rivers Partnership operating budget reflects only one component of the cost of providing park services in Scott County. The second component is the Parnership's lottery-in-lieu-of maintenance and rehabilitation program, which is funded by state lottery-in-lieu-of funding. The third component is the costs incurred by Scott County, which are part of the 2026 County Budget. No Park District funds are used to support the direct operating costs in Scott County; all direct costs for the regional park and trail operations in Scott County are paid by operating revenue, regional funding, and Scott County's contribution. The Park District does support operations in Scott County through a variety of in-kind services including natural resource management and general government functions.

2026 Budget Overview

The 2026 Scott County-Three Rivers Partnership budget strives to continue to provide high-quality services at four regional parks (Cleary Lake, Spring Lake, Cedar Lake Farm, and Doyle-Kennefick), one park reserve (Murphy Hanrahan), and 15.7 miles of regional trails. The budget includes staffing, supplies, and services for operations in Scott County and is funded primarily by a contribution from Scott County, park user fees, and grants from the Metropolitan Council.

The 2026 Scott County-Three Rivers Partnership budget totals $3,930,199, an increase of $219,378 from the 2025 budget. The increased costs are being funded by increases in all three revenue streams listed above. The following table shows the changes between the 2025 and 2026 budgets.


Budget Changes

The 2026 budget continues to build upon the partnership's past progress by including funding to maintain existing programs and service levels. Budget growth for 2026 is being funded by the following revenue changes:

  • Park Use Revenue - $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.


The recommended budget includes increases in expenditures to fund continuing operations at existing parks.

  • 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 of $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.


Staffing

The 2026 budget includes an increase of the park wellness programmer from 0.5 FTE to 0.8 FTE funded by the Met Council Wellness grant. The following is a summary of the 2026 budgeted full-time equivalent positions and temporary hours.

Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program

The 2026 Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program is funded by the portion of the Lottery-in-lieu- of funding that is not allocated to the partnership operating budget. Staff estimates this amount will be $128,600. These funds, along with any unspent funds from prior years, will be used for park maintenance and rehabilitation, special maintenance projects, natural resource projects, and small equipment as needed.

Relationship to the System Plan:

The Request for Action supports the following goal(s) of the System Plan:

Goal 2: Parks Matter

Goal 3: Lead by Example

by managing the Park District's financial affairs in a fiscally responsible manner.

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