(The Center Square) – The Spokane Park Board passed a resolution on Thursday that, if approved by the city council next month, could delay a vote on its $225 million levy for a third time, this time indefinitely.
Garrett Jones, director of Spokane’s Parks and Recreation Department, asked the board to postpone the February vote until either August or November 2025. Doing so would allow the city to leverage a partnership with Spokane Public Schools.
The council initially pushed the levy last year for a vote in August; however, once Mayor Lisa Brown proposed her Public Safety levy, the council replaced it with that. While Brown ultimately pulled her levy before the vote for a different tax proposal, the parks levy never got its chance.
Jones said the city discussed partnering with SPS over a year ago, but their priorities didn’t align with the district’s bond schedule. SPS asked local taxpayers to raise rates in February, but like many other districts, to no avail, which he said positions them to work together with the city.
“When we really started exploring the mission alignment around our park master plan, that really aligned well with SPS when we look at thriving neighborhoods,” Jones said. “Whether that is building an elementary school or renovating a park or building a new park.”
If Spokane and SPS align on maintenance standards and capital priorities, it could boost efficiencies while saving taxpayers money. On the other hand, joint planning could mean pushing other priorities if they don’t coalesce with one another’s long-term plans.
If they proceed, Jones said the SPS School Board would join the park board and city council in deciding when to put the tax proposal on the ballot, likely in August or November 2025. He clarified that the city and school district would still have two separate ballot measures.
Councilmember Jonathan Bingle, who also sits on the board, was the only dissenting vote over the resolution. He said two-thirds of most residents’ property taxes already go toward schools, and they feel that SPS would benefit the most, taking investments away from the city.
The current Healthy Parks, Healthy Neighborhoods proposal would see residents paying 29 cents per every $1,000 of assessed property value, generating about $225 million over 20 years.
The Parks and Recreation Department constitutes about 2.3% of the city’s total budget, constituting around $24 million annually. If voters approve the levy, assuming no additional changes, it could increase the department’s annual funding by about $11.5 million.
“It feels like every single time the levy has come up, somebody came and put pressure on parks to say, oh, now’s not a good time, it’s an election year, oh it’s this or it’s that,” Bingle said. “The more we move back, the more I worry we just will continue to.”
