Lodi parks department reports $1M in reserves

Lodi Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services staff will deliver the department’s annual budget presentation during next Tuesday’s Lodi City Council shirtsleeve session.

“It’s a snapshot of our fiscal 2018-19 fiscal year,” said Jeff Hood, parks and rec director. “We are keeping with the practice, the only difference is the timing, We usually have this meeting in November but we moved it up because of my imminent departure.”

Hood, who will retire at the end of the month, wanted to be present at the presentation to explain the budget and relay trends that parks staff have recorded for the year.

“I want t to be there to explain the yearly budget. I did not want an interim director or a successor to do that. I also wanted to be able to provide a ‘bigger picture’ message than I have done in previous years,” he said.

Hood reports that as of June 30 the department has $1,097,794.14 in reserves, and also noted that when he took over as director in 2012 the department had deficit of $861,000.

“We chipped away at the deficit by cutting expenses as much as we could, which included cutting some programs, and letting go of some positions,” he said.

Hood says the department has managed to stay afloat despite working with 1968 staffing levels, but warns resources will be stretched thinner as new parks are developed, capital projects are completed and the California minimum wage increases.

“A lot of improvements that have been done have been on the backs of our employees. That is the only way we have been able to pay for parks in recent years,” he said.

Hood added that the biggest source of revenue for the department has been the general fund.

Without the stream of funding that came in as a result of Measure L — the half-cent sales tax increase that goes into Lodi’s general fund — Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services received an estimated $843,000, which was used to fund playground replacement and deferred maintenance for trees.

Before Measure L passed the department had to raise activity fees across the board to maintain their programs.

The city has actively sought other funding sources through state grants to offset the cost of parks projects.

Tuesday’s shirtsleeve meeting will be held at 7 a.m. at Carnegie forum, 307 W. Pine St., Lodi.