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Portland Parks and Recreation is seeking to double the size of its property tax levy on an upcoming ballot, telling city councilors in recent weeks it needs the increase in order to sustain its existing services amidst a deepening budget crisis.
The parks bureau is shopping the renewal proposal, which would double the 80 cent per $1,000 of assessed value tax to $1.60 per $1,000 of assessed value, with members of the 12-person City Council, according to four of the councilors recently briefed by bureau leaders. The parks bureau must get a majority vote of the council to send such a measure to an upcoming ballot, either in May or November of this year.
The current Parks Levy, passed by Portland voters in November 2020, expires in June 2026, so should the city seek to renew the measure, it would have to be done by the current levy’s expiration date.
Levy dollars can only go toward park operations and routine maintenance of parks, not toward the $600 million of deferred maintenance across the city’s parks or toward building new infrastructure. Deferred maintenance occurs when assets aren’t properly tended to for so long that they become more expensive and more difficult to fix down the road.
Parks bureau leaders, according to two councilors briefed on the proposal, feel strongly that the city should ask voters to approve the levy on the May 2025 ballot, rather than waiting for the November 2025 ballot. The levy currently sustains around 40% of the parks’ operating annual budget—without it, the parks bureau warns it could see substantial cuts across its services and programs.
In a public presentation to the City Council last week, Sonia Schmanski, the deputy city administrator who oversees the vibrant communities service area, which includes the parks bureau, said that without a doubling of the current levy from 80 cents to $1.60, the parks bureau would be forced to cut 25% of its services.
“The subsequent levy would need to be at a higher rate than the current levy to preserve the same service levels,” Schmanski said.
The bureau says that if the levy weren’t renewed at all, it would result in a 50% decrease in current programming.
It’s not clear where the council would land on a referral vote if they took a vote in February.
But the levy, which in 2020 was approved by 63% of voters, may encounter a stiffer opposition this time around if the tax is doubled—both from the City Council that must send it to the ballot by a majority vote and perhaps by interest groups with business in front of City Hall. (The Portland Metro Chamber has previously said it’s against any new taxes or tax increases for three years, in alignment with Gov. Tina Kotek’s request for a three-year moratorium on all new taxes and tax increases.)
Councilor Mitch Green, an economist and staunch progressive who represents District 4, says he’s concerned that a rushing of the ballot measure to double the tax would result in its failure.
“It’s better to do it right than do it poorly, fail, and be in a worse position than we already are,” Green says. “The Parks Levy is important and a valuable piece of the parks model. It’s important to get it right.”
Parks spokesman Tim Collier says the bureau has “been briefing council members about the current Parks Levy and options going forward” but declined to comment further.