Minneapolis Park and Rec Board considers $160M budget and a higher tax levy rate

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board reaffirmed its push Wednesday night for a 5.86% levy increase for park services.

Board members say Mayor Jacob Frey’s proposal for a 2.5% increase is not enough.

“We feel very strongly that 5.86% is an accurate number of what the park system needs to be able to provide full service for the City of Minneapolis,” says board President Tom Olsen. “We have, I think,  provided a lot of strong reasoning around why we believe our HR system is cheaper than the city’s per employee. Same with IT. Same with payroll.”

The mayor has said other departments have been negotiating to lower their levy percentages, but not the park board.

Frey argues parts of the park board budget could be consolidated, pointing to $1.8 million in funding for HR, $1.9 million for finance and $1 million for communications.

All this as the board is considering...