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Ballot Title
THE CITY OF SEATTLE
PROPOSITION NUMBER 1
NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS, GREEN SPACES, TRAILS, AND ZOO LEVY
The City of Seattle’s Proposition 1 concerns a neighborhood parks, green
spaces, trails, and zoo levy.
This proposition would fund improved maintenance and programs of existing
parks, including the Zoo; acquisition, development and maintenance of new
neighborhood parks, green spaces, playfields, and trails; and out-of-school
and senior activities; pursuant to Ordinance 120024. It would lift the
RCW 84.55 limit on regular property taxes, allowing $198,200,000 additional
taxes over eight years. Up to $23,000,000 could be collected in 2001, that
limit increasing 3.1% annually. The 2001 total regular tax limit would
be $3.55/$1,000 assessed value. Should this levy lid lift be approved?
City Attorney's Explanatory Statement
1. The Proposal
Ordinance 120024 asks the voters of Seattle
to authorize additional regular property
taxes to be collected for up to eight years (2001
through 2008) to provide up to $198,200,000 in
total. No more than $23,000,000 may be collected
in 2001, and that annual limit would increase
by 3.1% each year. These funds would
be used to pay for acquisition, development,
environmental stewardship, maintenance, and programming of new and existing parks
(including the Zoo), green spaces, playfields, and trails.
Each year as part of the annual budget process the Superintendent of Parks and
Recreation would propose a spending plan and the City Council would appropriate the
Proposition 1 funds (the additional taxes and interest earned on those taxes) through
the budget. A sixteen-member citizens’ Oversight Committee would review and advise
on expenditures and allocations of the Proposition 1 funds. Unless the City Council
determines by a 3/4 vote that a natural or economic disaster requires otherwise, the
City would have to appropriate annually through 2009 for park and recreation purposes,
from sources other than the additional taxes raised through Proposition 1, at
least $55,529,044, the same dollar amount that was appropriated from the General
Subfund and as a result of Charter-mandated funding for park and recreation purposes
in the adopted 2000 budget.
The funding provided by Proposition 1 would be spent through four major categories:
(1) Acquisition; (2) Development; (3) Acquisition and Development Opportunity
Fund; and (4) Environmental Stewardship, Maintenance, and Programming.
- The Acquisition Category includes acquisition of specific properties for use as
neighborhood parks and specific properties for use as green spaces. The planned
acquisitions are listed in Attachment A to Ordinance 120024, which is reprinted in
full elsewhere in this voters’ pamphlet. Up to $26,000,000 of the additional taxes
raised through Proposition 1 would be used for this category.
- The Development Category includes development of new and existing neighborhood
parks, funding of development projects at specified major park sites, restoration
and renovation of existing playfields and facilities, and development of trails
and of park properties adjoining historic boulevards, all as specified in Attachment
A to Ordinance 120024. Up to $101,584,000 of the additional taxes raised through
Proposition 1 would be used for this category.
- New acquisition or development projects identified by neighborhood or community
groups could be funded through the Acquisition and Development Opportunity
Fund Category by ordinance, after City Council consideration of recommendations
of the Superintendent and the Oversight Committee. High priority would
be given to projects in underserved areas of the City, and next priority to areas
experiencing population growth (particularly in urban center and urban village locations)
and to Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Areas. At least 5.05% of the
total additional taxes raised through Proposition 1 (approximately
$10,000,000 if all $198,200,000 is collected) would be
allocated to the Acquisition and Development Opportunity Fund
Category over the life of the Proposition.
- The Environmental Stewardship, Maintenance, and Programming
Category includes maintenance of new parks and green
spaces acquired and developed through the other three categories,
environmental stewardship of existing properties, enhanced
maintenance of existing properties, increased recreational
programming for youth and seniors, and increased operational
support for the Woodland Park Zoo. Up to $60,615,000
of the additional taxes raised through Proposition 1 would be
used for this category.
Within the Acquisition Category, the Development Category,
and the Environmental Stewardship, Maintenance, and Programming
Category, Ordinance 120024 specifies an allocation of additional
taxes and interest for various subcategories of projects and
programs, all of which are listed in Attachment A to that ordinance.
The total allocation for any subcategory could be changed only by
3/4 vote of the City Council after considering the recommendations
of the Mayor and the Oversight Committee. Any allocation left over
from an Acquisition or Development subcategory would automatically
be transferred to the Acquisition and Development Opportunity
Fund Category.
The Superintendent of Parks and Recreation would determine
the scope of each project and program, after considering input from
the City Council through Resolution 30185, from the public, and
from staff. Projects or programs could only be deleted by a 3/4 vote
of the City Council after considering the recommendations of the
Mayor and the Oversight Committee.
2. The Law as it Exists Now
Under RCW 84.55.010 and 84.55.0101, the Seattle City Council
may set the amount of its regular property taxes at no more than
the sum of (a) 106% of the highest amount that was or could have
been levied in the past three years, plus (b) an amount to account
for the value of new construction in the city. This limitation is called
the “levy lid.” A majority vote of the electorate is needed to authorize
regular property taxes in an amount greater than the levy lid.
Lifting the levy lid may be done to fund a particular project, or for a
designated period of time, or both. In addition to the levy lid, city
regular property taxes are also limited to a maximum of $3.60 per
$1,000 of assessed valuation, with the exception of certain voter-approved
amounts for emergency medical services and housing
for very low-income households.
3. Effect of This Measure, If Approved
If Proposition 1 is approved, Seattle would be authorized to
levy up to $198,200,000 for the neighborhood parks, green spaces,
trails, and Zoo purposes described above and in Ordinance 120024.
These additional regular property taxes could be collected for up to
eight years beginning in 2001, with an annual limit that starts at
$23,000,000 in 2001 and increases by 3.1% each year, so long as
the total collected does not exceed $198,200,000. In 2001, if
$23,000,000 were collected, that would result in additional property
taxes of approximately $0.36 per $1,000 assessed value.
The City’s total regular property tax levy (including the amount
authorized by Proposition 1) would still be subject to the $3.60 per
$1,000 of assessed value limit, with the same exceptions noted
above. One of the exceptions is for very low-income housing. In
1995 the voters approved a levy of approximately $0.12 per $1,000
for 2001 collection that falls within this exception. If Proposition 1 is
approved by the voters, the effective regular property tax limit for
taxes due in 2001 would be $3.55 per $1,000.
After the expiration of Proposition 1, property taxes would be
limited by the levy lid calculated as though Proposition 1 had not
been approved, and by the $3.60 limit with the voter-approved exceptions
noted above.
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