The Sunset Empire Park & Recreation District board of directors approved a budget of $2,684,236 for fiscal year 2015-16.

At its meeting June 17, the board made a few last minute changes amounting to $60,000 before unanimously approving the budget, which was previously approved by the district’s Budget Committee in May.

The budget encapsulates the General Fund and three special revenue funds, including the Park Fund, Building Replacement Fund and Broadway Field Fund. The General Fund is the largest of the four and covers six departments — administration, aquatics, the Bob Chisholm Community Center, recreation, special events and the Youth Center.

As of the June 17 meeting, the district is projecting $2,317,483 in expenditures for fiscal year 2015-16, which would leave an estimated $366,753 in unappropriated funds, since the expected revenue total is $2,684,236. Expenditures are budgeted to increase about 3 percent in 2015-16 over last year’s expenditures, but revenue also is expected to increase.

More than half the district’s revenue comes from property taxes. The district has a total assessed value of more than $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2015-16, and the permanent tax rate is nearly $0.93 per $1,000 of assessed value. About $1,435,287 in taxes should be generated, but since some taxes go uncollected in a given year, the district budgets a collection rate of 93 percent, or $1,334,816.

In addition to property taxes, the district is expecting approximately $1,349,420 in timber taxes, donations, carryover from 2014-15 and other miscellaneous sources, such as service and rental fees.

The amendments the board made to what was approved by the budget committee and advertised ahead of the June 17 meeting were to allot $50,000 rather than $30,000 for contract services in the administration department; allot $64,310 rather than $44,310 in capital outlay for the aquatics apartment; and allot $119,210 rather than $99,210 for Youth Center leaders. The changes, proposed by interim Executive Director Mary Blake, will go toward covering contracting services, renovation to the women’s locker rooms at the pool and changing the pay range for the Youth Center’s recreational leaders from $9.25 to $11 or $10 to $14. The board supported the changes.

The board also scheduled a special board meeting for June 24 with the intention of re-adopting the resolution with an amendment that would increase expenditures in the Community Center department, under personnel services, by about $35,000, according to Finance Director Jennifer Stephens. The amendment also would decrease the district’s unappropriated funds, but the overall budget amount for 2015-16 would remain the same if the new resolution was adopted.

The district is currently in a financially stable position, Blake said.

“This is going to be a real fun time of bringing people on and getting them excited about the district and the programming,” she added.

One of the few bleak spots is Broadway Field, which the Sunset Empire Park & Recreation District maintains as part of an intergovernmental agreement with the city of Seaside and Seaside School District 10. With more than 90 percent of fiscal year 2014-15 accounted for as of May 31, the district had spent about 93.6 percent of funds budgeted for the field, or about $65,000, but had only brought in 52.3 percent of projected revenue, or nearly $36,400. Additionally, the 2015-16 budget includes another transfer from the General Fund to offset the projected operational deficit next year.

“This is a result of several factors, including lack of rentals, and under-performing concessions, as a result of the open nature of the park,” Blake wrote in her budget message.

Now that the district has completed two full seasons, staff is working with the city and school district to review and possibly update the IGA or create a new one. As the agreement stands, it is not sustainable for the district, Blake said, and “everyone is on the alert that it’s not sustainable. It is urgent to have a deep discussion on what’s happening.”

Already this year the district has seen increased financial participation from its partners, as the city purchased rubber for the field and the school district purchased gravel to stabilize the bleachers for baseball, Blake wrote.