Park Board proposes 5% tax levy increase

At its July 19 meeting, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) Commissioners voted unanimously to support a tax levy increase request to the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) of 5.51 percent. If passed, the levy increase for the MPRB will result in a 0.97 percent increase in city property taxes overall, which amounts to an approximate $18 annual increase in property taxes for owners of a median $329,000 value home.
“Taking care of the park assets we have is a priority for this Board of Commissioners. We need to continue providing park services that Minneapolis residents use and that have made us one of the top park systems in the nation,” explained Meg Forney, MPRB President.
The proposed tax levy includes two distinct elements that combined provide for the 2024 maximum property tax levy request. The first is to maintain current service levels, including $681,700 for inflationary pressures impacting the MPRB budget and $226,000 for increases in fees MPRB pays to the City of Minneapolis. The second element is $372,000 to support the board-adopted Strategic Direction to care for park assets to meet evolving needs and practices. This investment will provide professional staff, two project managers and one systems analyst, to identify and implement asset lifecycles to maximize maintenance, repair, rehabilitation and capital investments.
“We provide parks and facilities to enrich the lives of every Minneapolis resident. With more than 30 million visits to the park system each year, we need to maintain current service levels and invest in how we track, assess and care for park assets within almost 200 parks located throughout the city,” said Al Bangoura, Superintendent for the MPRB.
Currently, of every dollar homeowner’s pay for property taxes, 7.8 cents go to the MPRB.
As required by State Law, the BET sets the maximum tax levy for the City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Municipal Building Commission and the Public Housing Authority on an annual basis. The BET is scheduled to set these maximum property tax levies on Sept. 20, 2023.
If approved by the BET, the Superintendent will present a balanced 2024 recommended based on a 5.51 percent property levy increase on Oct. 18, 2023. The Board will consider the Superintendent’s budget and adopt the 2024 tax levy and 2024 budget on Dec. 5, 2023.
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is an independently governed park system featuring 185 park properties totaling 7,059 acres of land and water. An estimated 30.1 million annual visits are made to the nationally and locally acclaimed park system.