King County Will Ask Voters To Renew Parks Levy

SEATTLE, WA - King County will ask voters in August to renew the parks levy, an essential source of funding that helps maintain thousands of acres of park lands and countless community programs.

The levy charges property owners 18.77 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, generating about $66 million in revenue each year. The renewal levy will be less, according to the county, at 16.82 cents per $1,000 - about $7 per month for the owner of a $500,000 home. That will be a slight increase over the expiring levy due to rising home values.

The renewal might contain more money for local cities to use. King County Council Chair Rod Dembowski has told local governments he'd like to set aside 1 to 1-1/2 cents of the levy rate for use by school districts, park districts, and cities that either operate or want to build public pools.

About half the annual levy revenue supports county parks maintenance and operations. The county manages about 28,000 acres of open space, from the 11-1/2 acre Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center to 13-1/2 miles of back country trails across Rattlesnake Ridge.

In 2017, about 39 percent of the levy went to acquiring open space either for ecological needs, new trail development, and providing better access to trail heads. Seven percent went to local cities, and another 7 percent went to the Woodland Park Zoo. A full account of 2017 levy spending, the latest available, can be found here.

Seventy percent of voters approved the parks levy when it was last up for renewal in 2013. A group of county residents appointed by King County Executive Dow Constantine oversee levy spending.

Image courtesy King County