The San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services department is confronting a difficult year ahead with a projected budget deficit of $35.6 million for 2025-26. This includes significant cuts of $2.5 million to park funding, along with a staggering $550 million maintenance backlog. The department is exploring various methods to maintain operations, including partnerships, grants, and community engagement. Stakeholders are pushing for restructured funding due to past cuts in developer fees, emphasizing the need for sustainable resources to ensure park equity and accessibility in the community.
We do everything we can to stretch our resources - grants, partnerships, volunteers and contractors all help us maintain parks. We're also always looking for ways to be more efficient, but the bottom line is that we just don't have enough staff to meet the need. With a $550 million maintenance backlog, it's clear that sustainable funding for park staffing is critical to keeping our parks safe, clean and accessible.
The $2.5 million in budget cuts includes the loss of $100,000 for community forestry. Other cost savings will come from the city's closure of Yosemite Family Camp due to wildfire damage this summer, with a one-time savings of $240,000 while being repaired.
Collection
[
|
...
]