Negotiating teams for the  Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board and LIUNA Local 360 are once again at a stalemate following a second attempt to negotiate this week.

Over the weekend, LIUNA Local 360, the union representing Park workers who are currently on strike, presented a counteroffer to the Park & Recreation Board’s “last, best, and final'' offer. According to the board, the union’s counteroffer cost $800,000 more overall than what the union had previously proposed.

On Monday and Tuesday, the board said it gave the union “three substantial counteroffers” to its weekend offer, none of which were accepted by the union’s negotiating team.

"Local 363 leadership returned with proposed offers that continued to make requests beyond the [Park & Rec Board's] financial capacity," the Park & Recreation Board said in a statement.

The Park & Rec Board's final offer to LIUNA Local 360 workers as of July 16

LIUNA Local 360 held a press conference on Tuesday night. “The Park Board refused to continue bargaining and walked out,” the union said in an announcement. During a Tuesday night press conference, LIUNA Local 363 Business Manager AJ Lange called on Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to intervene.

“I know [the Park & Rec Board] and employees are united around a goal of keeping our park system world-class, and I will support them in achieving a resolution that keeps that goal front and center,” Frey said in a statement sent to Bring Me the News on Tuesday.

“Minnesota state law very clearly sets up a process on how contracts with public employers and employees are reached,” a statement issued by the Park & Recreation board statement sent on Wednesday reads. “That process does not have a role, in this case, for the Mayor to act as a convenor.”

Superintendent Al Bangoura has publicly said he wants LIUNA Local 363 leadership to allow Park workers to vote on the board’s latest offer.

“After seven months of negotiations, the members of Local 363 have not been given an opportunity by Local 363 leadership to vote on a proposed contract,” a Tuesday statement from the board reads. “We ask that they do so now.”

Park & Recreation Board President Meg Forney issued a statement on Wednesday saying the board “will return to the bargaining table when directed by the [Bureau of Mediation Services].” The State’s Bureau of Mediation Services assists in union labor contract mediation.

On July 8, The Park & Recreation Board’s finance department presented its financial capacity to fund the union’s proposed contract, focusing on the need to increase property taxes. The majority of the Park & Recreation Board and its services are funded through property taxes.

Park & Recreation Board Finance Director Juli Wiseman said during the presentation that Minneapolis property taxes have risen an average of 5.3% over the last 10 years due to the 20-Year Neighborhood Park Plan, youth investment, and system equity investments.

The board’s union contract proposal is expected to increase property values by 1.25% in 2025, the union’s contract proposal is calculated to increase property values by by 2.1%. Those values drop to 1% and 1.5%, respectively, in 2026. Park & Recreation Board commissioners have publicly stated that they have to stay below a 10% tax levy this year.

There has been little discussion about alternative funding possibilities for wages, but Wiseman reported on July 8 that 72% of the Park & Recreation Board budget is dedicated to wages.

Southwest Voices asked whether the board’s finance department had any discussions about funding the union contract outside of raising property taxes. In response, the board’s Communications and Marketing Director Dawn Sommers reiterated that LIUNA Local 363’s contract proposals are “estimated to cost $6.5 million over the three years of the contract, a difference of $1.4 million and 27% higher than the [Park & Recreation Board] offer.”

LIUNA Local 363 is convinced the Park & Recreation Board can find the money to pay for its proposed contract.

“There is money available elsewhere,” LIUNA Local 360’s business manager AJ Lange said as an aside during the July 8 meeting. “Bonding, reserves.” Other Park workers at the meeting repeated that “the money is there.”