St. Louis aldermen today overwhelmingly approved a plan to issue $64 million in bonds for city parks, with about $30 million to be spent on improvements at Forest Park.

Comptroller Darlene Green still opposes the move and has threatened to delay issuing the bonds.

Supporters contend the bonds are needed to pave the way for a $100 million fund-raising campaign by Forest Park Forever, a private group. They say the bonds can be paid off with money that is supposed to be set aside for city parks but often is diverted to plug budget gaps elsewhere.

On Thursday, Green was outvoted when two related bills authorizing the funding plan passed the city's three-person Board of Estimate and Apportionment, which also includes Mayor Francis Slay and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed. Aldermen today approved the bills by wide margins.

The bills allow the city to use $34 million generated from bond sales to upgrade and maintain water pipes, ball fields, sidewalks and streets in the city's 106 neighborhood and regional parks, plus another $30 million for the same in Forest Park.

In a letter to aldermen this week, Green warned that the plan could lead to a $1.7 million budget shortfall, "potentially forcing cuts to city services and even layoffs."

That's because, during the last two fiscal years, the city has dipped into a parks-improvement fund to the tune of $1.1 million to cover other obligations. They wouldn't be able to do that under the new plan, because the improvement money would be dedicated to paying for the bonds.

In addition, Green said in the letter, the funding plan would require the city to pay from its general fund $600,000 for electricity used in Forest Park. That money is now paid with parks-improvement dollars.

Alderman Joe Roddy dismissed Green's objections at Friday's meeting and said the city should act quickly so Forest Park Forever can reach out to wealthy donors who must give soon to realize a tax benefit for this year.

"To think that someone has to work this hard to give the city millions of dollars is mind-boggling," said Roddy, a sponsor of one of the two bills.

Last month, Green told the Post-Dispatch she would consider delaying the bond issues until 2014 and issue the bonds in stages, maybe $5 million at a time, instead of all at once. Green, who was out of town on Friday, has not decided what she will do, spokeswoman Robin Boyce said after the aldermanic vote.