Our parks and Austin Parks Foundation need your help! The City of Austin’s annual budget process is kicking off with a series of community budget forums hosted by City Commissions throughout March.
Commissioners will hear what’s important to the public, and how we’d like to see funding prioritized in next year’s city budget. They will then incorporate the feedback into recommendations on City Services and goals the public values most for review by city leadership and Austin City Council.
Wait, Why Are Community Budget Forums Important?
These recommendations carry a lot of weight with decision makers. It’s critically important that each commission hear that Austinites care about their parks and want them to be properly funded. Why, you ask?
- Austin continues to grow, and the importance of maintaining our parks grows with it. We want to ensure our parks can be enjoyed by all Austinites, regardless of where they live.
- The Parks and Recreation Department does the best they can with limited resources. They struggle because of deferred maintenance totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars, for instance. We know that they need additional staff and funding to create and maintain the world-class parks system we want and deserve.
- Elected officials will make tough budgetary decisions, and they’ll need to hear from YOU that parks should be a priority.
When and Where Are the Community Budget Forums Happening?
The forums are happening throughout March at a variety of locations throughout Austin. You can find a list of dates and locations of all community budget forums on the APF Events Calendar.
Constituent feedback plays an important role in how elected officials think about and vote on an issue, but especially at the local level. Get out there, flex your civic muscles, and support your local parks!
About Austin Parks Foundation
Austin Parks Foundation is a non-profit organization that partners with the greater Austin community to enhance people’s lives. We make our public parks, trails, and green spaces better through volunteerism, innovative programming, advocacy, and financial support. APF works diligently to fill Austin’s funding and resource gap to maintain the area’s 300+ parks, trails, and green spaces.
We foster innovative public/private partnerships and have given over $3 million in community-initiated grants to the Austin community. We’re known for our annual flagship volunteer event, It’s My Park Day, and are a presenting partner and beneficiary of Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park. You may donate here if you’d like to support our mission of People Plus Parks!
