Champaign Park District staff forecast shrinking yearly surplus as board sets budget strategy
Commissioners take up the five-year outlook at a special meeting Oct. 28.
CHAMPAIGN - The yearly surplus in the Champaign Park District's operating funds would shrink from about $2.86 million in this year's budget to about $632,000 by fiscal 2030/31, according to a staff forecast in the packet for the board's Oct. 28 special meeting.
The projection covers the General, Recreation and Museum funds. Finance Director Courtney R. Kouzmanoff's memo says it assumes the district spends its full budget every year, though it has historically underspent, and uses expense assumptions it calls more aggressive than its revenue ones, including 15% yearly growth in health insurance costs. Ending fund balances still rise, from $34.8 million to $41.5 million. These are staff projections, not a budget.
Staff are asking the board for direction, not a vote, on a strategy for the FY2027/28 budget: recurring revenue covering recurring costs, one-time use of money above a 120-day reserve, and department targets near last year's levels. A proposed budget would go to the board in March 2027, with adoption in April.
The board will also revisit a three-year DocuSign contract, about $24,700 a year, which it tabled Oct. 14 and sent to its lawyer for review. The 5:30 p.m. meeting is at the Bresnan Meeting Center, 706 Kenwood Road.
Source: Champaign Park District, Oct. 28, 2026 special meeting packet (agenda pp. 1-2; DocuSign memo pp. 3-5; forecast memo pp. 38-39; Attachment A p. 40) (https://champaignparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/10.28.26-Board-Packet.pdf).