DENVER — The Denver Department of Parks & Recreation on Thursday laid out its plan to reduce its budget by millions as the city looks to shore up its multi-million-dollar budget shortfall.
For the past week, departments throughout the City and County of Denver have made their presentations during budget hearings.
Denver7 has closely tracked efforts to fix the $200 million budget shortfall. The city laid off 169 city workers, eliminated more than 600 open positions, and started requiring furlough days to help balance the budget.
Last month, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston laid out his 2026 budget proposal, which included millions in budget cuts.
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This week, city departments are presenting their 2026 budget proposals to the Denver City Council, which must approve the final budget. Denver Parks & Rec delivered its presentation on Thursday.
"Obviously, a tough budget year, with needing to cover that $200 million gap citywide, but we have an amazing group of employees who all were encouraged to submit ideas of how we could save without impacting residents or having the least impact on residents," said Jolon Clark, the executive director for Denver Parks & Rec.
The department has cut roughly $11 million from its 2026 budget.
- Read the full presentation below
During Thursday's budget hearing, Clark spoke about the changes the department is expecting as a result of the budget cuts. He said the department plans to consolidate its permitting process and volunteer programs, for starters.
"We found a lot of places where we could be more efficient in what we do and reduce costs, but also have the opportunity to have a better resident experience. So, for instance, today, if you want to rent out a room in one of our rec centers, you have to call one number and work with one team. If you want to rent out one of our awesome facilities in a park or a picnic area, you call a different number and work with a different team," Clark said. "So, we're consolidating those teams so that all of that, instead of having a park side and a recreation side, there's just one side."
Clark added the department plans to reduce and make changes to its Kidwatch program, which operates at a few rec centers in Denver, as well as its emerald ash borer treatments, its hazmat cleanup contract, and cable TV service at rec centers.
"We were really looking under every couch cushion to try to get to that place where we could protect those core items as much as possible while removing things that were not as used or not as popular," Clark told Denver7.
Clark made it clear that rec center operating hours throughout Denver will not be impacted.
Sitting at the back of the budget hearing Thursday was Scott Gilmore, the former deputy executive director for Denver Parks & Rec, who was one of the 169 city employees laid off in August.
"I was here today just so I could actually see the budget presentation by the budget department," Gilmore told Denver7. "I wanted to actually see what was going on."
Gilmore told Denver7 he's concerned about what's being cut and what's not.
"I did this job for 14 years, and so I want to make sure that the neighborhoods and the communities that so much depended on reaching out to me to get things done a lot of times still continue to get those services," he said. "My biggest takeaway is that there is a real lack of consistency across the department right now. They're seeming to address the things that they might get beat up on that might become an issue."
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However, Clark doesn't see it that way. He emphasized the department made cuts, consolidations and changes where it believed the least amount of impact would be felt by community members.
"I think we really came forward with a budget that was every single dollar we could find, every coin in every couch cushion," Clark said.
That's especially important for those like Haley Jennings and her two dogs, Leah and Lucy.
"They're both rescues that we adopted here," Jennings said. "She's nine, although people think she's a puppy all the time. This one, we think she's 11."
Jennings told Denver7 she and her husband frequent City Park and Wash Park the most.
"We come at least once a month, depending. We live in the Montclair neighborhood, so this is one of our closer parks that we like to come to, especially during the week when it's a little less busy," she said. "We love all the trees, a lot of shade, because my older lady over here doesn't do great with the sun all the time, and we're always really excited about the florals and the gardening."
It's community members like Jennings and others that Denver Parks & Rec is hoping to not impact with changes brought about by the budget deficit.
