We Sure Love Our Parks

Seattle’s parks and open spaces are essential to the city’s livability and identity. In a 2021 Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) survey, 97% of respondents said the parks and recreation system was important to their quality of life, while 73% considered it extremely important.

To ensure stable, long-term investment in Seattle parks, voters approved Proposition 1 in 2014, establishing the Seattle Park District. It provides a dedicated funding source that enables SPR to plan and maintain facilities over time, rather than depend on temporary levies.

In the first of a two-part series, this post will explain the history of the Park District and review its original goals. Next post will look at the progress achieved and opportunities for continued improvement.

What is the Seattle Park District?

Before the Seattle Park District was established, park funding depended on the General Fund and temporary voter-approved levies. Parks were oftentimes underfunded, as they competed with major budget staples like public safety and transportation for general fund dollars.

Short term measures such as the 2000 and 2008 parks levies provided essential support for new facilities, but did not account for ongoing maintenance and operations, resulting in parks falling into disrepair between levies.

Seattle Park District collects property taxes, with the ability to levy up to $0.75 per $1,000 of assessed property value. It operates on a six-year budget cycle and is a significant funding source for SPR (around 30% of the operating budget and 57% of capital budget in 2025).

The Seattle Parks District is governed by the Seattle City Council, acting as Park District Board, with oversight from the citizen-based Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners to ensure transparency and accountability.

Source: SPD

The first six-year cycle of the Seattle Park District, which ran from 2015 to 2020, generated approximately $253 million in property tax revenue. Because funds from the levy weren’t available until 2016, the City of Seattle provided a $10 million interfund loan in 2015 to launch early maintenance projects, repaid once revenues were received. One-year budgets followed in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the six-year cycle resumed in 2023 and continues through 2028.

Initial Goals

The Seattle Park District was founded on a “Fix It First” approach, prioritizing a major maintenance backlog while also planning new facilities or programs. Its initial goals were to:

• Provide reliable funding for park operations, maintenance, and capital projects, independent of the city’s general fund and temporary levies.

• Address a $267 million maintenance backlog.

• Improve equity in park access and quality across neighborhoods.

• Expand programs for youth, seniors, and underserved communities.

• Support green space restoration and sustainability projects.

So how’s it going? That’s our next post.