Portland voters to decide parks funding hike
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Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
It's election season and Multnomah County residents have just one choice to make.
The big picture: The sole item on this year's ballot is a renewal — and increase — of property taxes that fund maintenance in the city's parks.
Why it matters: If passed, the Parks Levy would put money toward routine maintenance and minor repairs, planting trees and preserving programming at rec centers, pools and other facilities run by the parks bureau.
- If voters defeat the measure, the bureau would face a roughly $90 million budget gap and would have to lay off about half its staff, per OPB.
By the numbers: The levy would impose property taxes of $1.40 per $1,000 of assessed value, a 75% increase over the $0.80 rate passed under the 2020 Parks Levy that expires this year.
- A homeowner with an assessed value of roughly $222,000 would pay around $310 per year. Under the existing tax, that same homeowner pays roughly $177.
- The tax would raise some $91 million annually, with roughly 98% going toward operations, including routine maintenance, and the remaining 2% toward capital maintenance.
The intrigue: Last week, the City Auditor released a report blasting the parks bureau for building new parks and adding amenities with no plan to fund maintenance for them for the long term.
- As of September 2024, 86% of the assets maintained by the bureau were in poor or very bad condition.
- The maintenance backlog sits between $550 million and $800 million, but if "someone wrote us a check for $600 million today," a parks manager told the auditor, "we would still see failures."
- The report recommended developing a long-term fiscal plan in collaboration with city officials, basing future expenditures on systemwide goals and communicating cost-saving measures better to the public.
What they're saying: In a written response to the audit, city administrator Michael Jordan laid some of the blame on the city's previous form of government, where commissioners created a situation of "chronic insufficient levels of investment for capital maintenance."
- Jordan said the city's new form of government, which was installed in January, represents an opportunity to devote the appropriate resources to funding park maintenance.
What's next: Voters will have to weigh all of that before they cast their ballots, which are due no later than 8pm on Nov. 4.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to note that roughly 98% of the parks levy funding would go toward operations, including routine maintenance, and the remaining 2% toward capital maintenance (not toward maintenance and capital projects).