Minneapolis Park Board votes to increase fees, close 5 skating rinks

By Steve Brandt

Last update: December 13, 2007 - 12:15 AM

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board agreed Wednesday to increase fees and cut some services to plug a $2 million hole in its 2008 budget of $53 million.

Revenues from state aid and the $41.8 million tax levy approved by the city Board of Estimate and Taxation couldn't cover a double-digit increase in employee health premiums and a pay raise for park police, said administrator Don Siggelkow.

The Park Board will charge higher fees for picnic shelter rental, outdoor weddings and off-leash dog park permits. Mountain bikers who formerly rode trails at Wirth Park for free will pay a $25 annual fee unless an alternative is negotiated.

Plans also call for increasing permit fees for groups using city parks -- including nonprofits that put on the AIDS Walk and Gay Pride -- developing a new concert series or golf championship, temporarily discontinuing the mounted horse patrol and expanding mobile concessions and beginning online merchandise sales.

After several nonprofits said they would pull their events out of Minneapolis, board members Wednesday voted to phase in fee increases over several years for a number of such groups.

Spending cuts will include closing five of the system's 28 outdoor skating locations: Shingle Creek, Harrison, Waite, Brackett and Loring parks. There were rinks at 50 parks as recently as 1995.

An earlier proposal to close the rink at Powderhorn Park, where a skating tradition goes back to the 1930s, was scrapped after it drew intense public opposition.

Other cuts include reducing hours at some recreation centers.

"The revenue initiatives outlined in our proposed 2008 budget will allow us to sustain the majority of the service we provide to residents and 18 million park visitors each year," said Jon Gurban, Park Board superintendent.

STEVE BRANDT

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