Spokane City Council locks in park levy vote for Nov. 4
Spokane voters will decide in the November election if they want to pay more for better parks.
The Spokane City Council voted 6-0 on Monday to place a 20-year parks levy on the Nov. 4 ballot. Councilman Jonathan Bingle was absent.
“This is really an easy decision to put this on the ballot,” Councilman Paul Dillon said just before the vote. “I really appreciated a lot of the thoughtfulness, input that went into this proposal and the large coalition that surrounds it.”
City spokeswoman Erin Hut said Mayor Lisa Brown will sign the ordinance to place the levy on the ballot.
After voters rejected a Spokane Public Schools bond last year, school leaders worked with park officials to craft dual tax proposals to pay for more projects for less money than if the city park system and school district crafted plans separately. The grand concept also includes private money from nonprofit groups that hope to partner with parks and schools, including the Boys and Girls Club and Spokane Youth Sports Association. The school district also plans to sell some of its unused property to keep costs down.
The park levy would generate $240 million over 20 years. It would increase property taxes by 27 cents per $1,000, about $108 a year on a $400,000 property.
About 35% of the parks levy would pay to boost maintenance and safety, including by hiring five additional full-time park rangers. A little more than half would pay to replace or improve playgrounds, restrooms, trailheads and other amenities. That would include full replacements of playgrounds at 32 parks and full restroom replacement at 40. Amenities would include 14 renovated sports courts and one new skate park. Minnehaha, Grant and Harmon parks would each get significant upgrades.
Remaining money would pay for new parks.
“It’s an investment in every neighborhood across the entire city,” Councilman Zack Zappone said.
The Spokane School Board has not yet placed the proposed school tax on the ballot. It would pay for new Madison and Adams elementary schools, a significant remodeling of North Central High School, a new vocational skill-focused high school at Spokane Community College, many upgrades to athletic facilities and fields and other projects.
School leaders have proposed $200 million in bonds that would be paid off over 20 years. Taxpayers would pay roughly 6 to 31 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to pay off the bond, depending on the year, said Cindy Coleman, chief finance and business services officer for Spokane Public Schools, in an interview earlier this year.
Bingle, who serves on the Spokane Park Board, said the parks system struggles with upkeep. The levy, he said in an interview Tuesday, puts “a lot of emphasis on maintaining what we currently have, which is really, really good.”
He also likes the plan because it calls for the creation of a new park north of Francis Avenue and east of Nevada Street, an area underserved by parks. (Bingle said although he supports putting the park levy on the ballot, he’s less supportive of the school bond and declined to say how he will vote on either in November.)
City Council President Betsy Wilkerson said the proposal is fiscally responsible.
“I’m looking at my great -grandchildren now who will be able to play in these parks if my grandchildren stay here – which I hope they do,” Wilkerson said.