Tensions flare after audit claims financial mismanagement by KC Parks and Rec
An audit of Kansas City Parks and Recreation suggests the city department is failing to track and manage its finances, possibly costing the city millions of dollars.
The audit presented to the City Council on Thursday showed the department misreported financial details, lacked adequate records to track its revenue and failed to enforce contracts and collect fees from users of parks facilities.
The report sparked a blistering response from Parks Director Christopher Cotten, who argued the auditors shared false or inaccurate information and failed to understand how parks and recreation programming works.
Cotten’s comments received a rebuke from some council members who called his reaction to the report inappropriate. 3rd District Councilmember Melissa Robinson said he needed to focus on facts and not attack the auditors. “There’s no reason to go personal here,” Robinson said. “I’m quite embarrassed.”
Audit says KC Parks and Rec failed to track payments
City Auditor Marc Shaw presented the financial review of KC Parks and Recreation that showed the department’s finance division could not answer basic questions about its budget or revenue collection.
Shaw said the department’s leadership “demonstrated weakness” in understanding financial principals and keeping adequate records. The audit also suggested that the misreporting of financial data could be the result of a lack of structure in the department’s finance division.
Shaw said roles and responsibilities in the division were not clear and oversight was inadequate, leading to a failure to track payments to the department or issue invoices to users of park facilities.
Shaw said that may have resulted in under-collected revenues that would have bolstered the department’s budget.
“According to one parks official, over the years the department could have missed collecting millions of dollars,” Shaw said.
Shaw recommended for the city to seek an external review of the department’s financial practices to further examine the issue. He also suggested the department establish better defined oversight responsibilities for its finances and facility use contracts and to better apply its stated fee collection policies.
‘There is no missing money’
The report did not sit well with Cotten, who fiercely defended the department’s record and staff. He said the department has been working for years to address disconnects between the department’s finance and recreation divisions. He also noted the parks department is nationally accredited.
“But to be clear, there is no missing money, there is no embezzlement, no unscrupulous deeds being performed,” Cotten said. “There's only a dedicated staff working to do the hard work to continue to put forth our national prominence.”
Council members said they found the audit concerning and that they had many questions about the department's finances. They requested a meeting with KC Parks leadership and the auditors in another city council business session next month.
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 12:34 PM.
