Executive-Proposed Parks Replacement Levy
Acting upon recommendations from a citizen task force, King County Executive Dow Constantine is proposing a six-year, $360 million Parks Levy for the August primary that would enable voters to replace two parks levies that will expire at the end of this year.
The Executive's proposal would generate about $60 million a year from 2014 through 2019 through a CPI-indexed property tax levy lid lift of 18.91 cents per $1,000 of assessed value – an estimated $64 per year for the owner of a home valued at $340,000.
Parks Levy - Executive Proposal Frequently Asked Questions.
Press release: "Executive proposes replacing levies to keep King County Parks ‘clean, safe and open'" - Feb 21, 2013.
Exeuctive-proposed documents:
2012 King County Parks Levy Task Force
In June 2012, King County Executive Dow Constantine convened a panel of business and civic leaders to help define a path to funding King County's parks, trails, and open space upon expiration of the current levies at the end of 2013.
Press release: "Citizen task force recommends continued levy support of King County parks, trails, open space" - November 28, 2012.
The group met from June to October 2012. Meeting agendas and other materials can be found here.
2008 - 2013 Voter-Approved Parks Levies
In 2007, King County voters approved two property tax levy lid lifts to support park operations and open space and trails for the period of 2008 - 2013. Thank you for your continued support!
The King County Parks Levy is a five-cent levy that provides 70 percent of the funding for operations and maintenance of King County's 200 parks, 175 miles of trails, and 26,000 acres of open space. King County voters approved this levy by 63 percent. Read the legislation here. Approximately 20 percent of operating revenue is generated through entrepreneurial activites. See our quarterly reports for more information.
The Open Space and Trails Levy is a five-cent levy that supports open space acquisition and protection and regional trail development for King County (3 cents); open space and trails for the 39 cities within King County (1 cent, distributed by population and assessed value); and operations, environmental education programs and capital improvements at the Woodland Park Zoo (1 cent). King County voters approved this levy by 59 percent. Read the legislation here.
In 2013, these levies are collecting more than 13 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.
As required by the levy legislation, a Parks Levy Citizen Oversight Board (COB) was established to monitor the expenditure of levy proceeds. The nine-member COB was appointed by the King County Council and convenes annually.
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