Memphis Parks lays out FY27 budget priorities; council presses on security, overtime and District 7 repairs

Justice Bolden, director of Memphis Parks, presented the department's FY27 operating budget and priorities, telling the council the Parks authorized complement is shown at 269 positions with 245 funded for FY27 and noting 11 positions remained unfunded. He described key priorities including youth and young-adult programming, a 17to20-day grass-cut cycle, aquatics and summer programming, and continuing support for managed partners. "Managed Partners represents approximately 25% of our FY 27 budget for the parks," Bolden said.

Bolden highlighted technology investments intended to improve maintenance and customer service: an OpenGov asset management system to time-stamp foremen photos and Placer.ai to measure park usage. He also noted a $500,000 annual budget line for installing or maintaining alarm and fire suppression systems across facilities.

Councilmembers questioned parks staff about security and an apparent change in how security and park ranger duties would be handled. "So you're reducing your'you've got rid of the security because you have technology that's going to hopefully address any issues," Councilwoman Logan said, asking whether cameras would be operationally linked to the police to enable real-time responses rather than only recording incidents. Bolden said Parks uses contracted security for special events and is moving toward more camera deployments that could connect to a downtown real-time crime or command center.

Several councilmembers, particularly those representing District 7, pressed for faster action on park repairs and playground safety after a presentation of photos showing damaged surfacing at Dave Wells. Councilwoman Cooper Sutton called the condition "unacceptable" and urged immediate repairs rather than additional meetings. Bolden acknowledged the concerns and proposed follow-up meetings to prioritize surfacing replacements and possible use of CIP funds or federal matches. Chief Operating Officer Antonio Adams said some projects were shifted into FY27 to maximize federal matching money for Gooch Park, which allowed design and engineering work on North Fraser to be staged across FY27 and FY28.

Members also challenged a proposed jump in Parks overtime projections: Councilwoman Green said a previous year's spike related to a single winter-storm event produced only about $124,000 in overtime, while the FY27 projection was an additional roughly $400,000. "I cannot in any way justify an extra 400,000 in overtime," she said, and asked staff to revisit those projections before the budget is finalized.

The Parks director repeatedly emphasized a mix of cost-recovery strategies, sponsorships and managed-partner contracts to balance the budget while maintaining free programs and expanding specialty offerings.

The council asked Parks to return with additional itemized detail and a maintenance/refurbishing plan ahead of final budget decisions.