Austin parks board recommends $2.6M extra for parks maintenance, homeless response

It's the thick of budget season for the City of Austin, and the Austin Parks and Recreation Board is calling on city leaders to allocate an additional $2.62 million into the Parks and Recreation Department's budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — It's the thick of budget season for the City of Austin, and the Austin Parks and Recreation Board is calling on city leaders to allocate an additional $2.62 million into the Parks and Recreation Department's budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The parks board voted 8-0 in favor of the extra funding request. Both public speakers and board members said it doesn't address the totality of department needs but is a start. Additional needs flagged by speakers included requests for more full-time lifeguards to support more robust city operations.

"I think that this is a start...if I could ask during these budget talks for all the money that PARD would need, that would be a lot," said Pedro Villalobos, chair of the board. "So I think that this is just the bare minimum that we can ask for in order for us to adequately maintain our parks."

Even with the new full-time employee (FTE) positions being requested, Villalobos cited the National Recreation and Parks Association's recommendation that Austin have 90 FTEs to properly maintain park facilities and resources.

"So again, this goes back to my original comment which is I think this meets some of the need but not all of the need," Villalobos added.

The vast majority of that requested budget increase would go toward increased funding for park maintenance, at $2.24 million. That's broken down into $1.5 million in continuous maintenance funding and $740,000 in one-time funds, all to employ 16 full-time, year-round employees and cover any supplies related to their hiring.

Elsewhere in the budget request is $385,000 to go toward the department's Homeless Encampment Response Team. Those dollars would help employ four full-time, year-round positions to aid in the city's efforts of "ensuring that all park users, including those experiencing homelessness, receive the support and services they need," per city documents.

That team is responsible for aiding in monitoring encampments for health and safety risks and helping manage cleanups of encampments.