So commissioners this week agreed to whittle down $3.1 million in "A" capital projects - ones of primary concern that should be completed when feasible - by 29 percent.
The move knocked 32 projects off this year's list and will fatten the district's pocketbook by $877,800.
Meeting as a committee of the whole last week, board members requested that staff prioritize the "A Projects" list. The board Tuesday voted to defer all projects staff had designated "low" and "low to medium" priority.
The projects will be re-evaluated as part of the next budget cycle, and the funds will be reallocated into the district's reserves bank.
"Those are certainly difficult decisions," Robert Smith, the board's new president, said. "In the future, we're going to have to make more of those difficult decisions ... because we have limited resources to accomplish what the community is asking for."
Officials say the defeat of their $28.5 million tax increase referendum in March is forcing them to keep an extra tight eye on their finances - and conserve dollars when possible. Delaying the projects will not necessarily cost more in the long run, they say.
Recreation Park warehouse renovations and roadway improvements - a project that has haunted the district for several years - was among the items cut from this year's to-do list.
Other items the board agreed to delay include the installation of a wooden dance floor at Pioneer Park, the replacement of pool deck glass doors at Olympic Indoor Swim Center, the colorcoating of several tennis courts and the purchase of soccer goal posts.
"If we have serious problems, we may have to work things back in (the budget)," Brian Huckstadt, director of parks and planning, said.
A little more than $1 million in projects on the capital projects' "A" list are either in progress now or have been completed already.
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