Eugene wants voters to renew the parks levy. Here’s how the city has spent money so far

Eugene officials have given staff the green light to place a renewal of the parks levy on the May 16 ballot.

City councilors voted 5-1 to refer the renewal.

The levy, originally passed in May 2018 along with a bond measure, has funded renovations, new facilities, safety measures, park maintenance, increased cleaning and mowing and more. It generates about $3.15 million a year for parks spending, and is set to expire at the end of June.

Officials have been talking for months about park funding needs and the right rate to ask for.

They initially discussed three options but voted Monday on an option one councilor described as splitting the baby. The levy they referred to the ballot would allow $4.33 million more in parks spending.

Here’s what you need to know about what will be on the May ballot, why councilors settled on that number, how the city has spent the first levy and how it plans to spend the renewed levy if it gets the OK from voters.

Would cost typical homeowner $18 more a year

A levy focused on safety and service will appear on the May 16 ballot.

It proposes to let the city spend an additional $4.33 million each year on parks services.

That would mean an average rate of 26 cents per $1,000 of assessed value throughout the five-year levy. The city estimated that would cost an average of $67 a year for a typical homeowner.

That’s $18 more a year than if the city renewed the levy at the current rate, according to a staff presentation.

Because the levy is based on a fixed dollar amount, the rate could vary from year to year.

Polling showed support for renewal, but not for increased rate

Officials initially considered three options. One maintained the average levy rate, another increased the rate to keep service levels the same based on rising costs and the third enhanced safety measures. Each had a higher rate than the next.

But survey results showed a lack of enthusiasm for higher tax rates, even once people learned what extra services those additional dollars would fund.

Polling showed 62% of likely voters would support renewing the levy at the current rate. Support was lower for the other two initial options.

Staff went “back to the drawing board” after hearing the council’s reaction to the survey results and came up with the safety and services option, said Matt Rodrigues, the city’s Public Works director.

Councilor Mike Clark said he’ll be “radically surprised” if the measure passes.

“I believe that this measure had a chance at the ballot if the amount of money we asked for had not changed,” Clark said.

He pointed to recent distrust of city officials and tightening pocketbooks amid recession fears.

Clark expressed the same concern during a meeting earlier this month.

During that meeting, Councilor Randy Groves said he fears Clark is right but hopes he isn’t.

The safety and service option “splits the baby,” Groves said. There’s potentially more risk because of the increased rate, he said, but the proposal “also gives the public what they’re asking for” by focusing on public safety.

Councilor Jennifer Yeh agreed it’s a good compromise and said she thinks community members can all agree “we love our parks, and we want them to be safe and clean and usable.”

Levy dollars focused on cleanup, maintenance, safety

The city has used levy money to focus on just that: Keeping parks clean, green and safe.

According to staff and the city’s webpage, spending from the levy focuses on six areas:

• Park safety and security, including dedicated police officers for parks and parks ambassadors.

• Illegal activity cleanup response, including graffiti removal, vandalism response and cleanup associated with park rule violations.

• General park maintenance such as keeping restrooms open, picking up litter and trash, mowing turf, landscaping and maintaining infrastructure.

• Weekend and after-hours maintenance.

• Habitat and natural area maintenance, including invasive weed management, wildfire risk abatement and maintenance of trails and other infrastructure.

• Maintenance of projects funded by the 2018 bond, including the pools at Echo Hollow and Sheldon, improvements to the Campbell Community Center, Downtown Riverfront Park, Striker Field Park and Santa Clara Park.

Staff said current levy dollars have resulted in:

• A 55% increase in custodial service.

• Five times more staff hours spent on graffiti removal.

• Cleanup of 4,659 urban camps.

• Resurfacing of about 4,000 feet of trails.

• More restrooms in parks and at trailheads.

There’s more information about how the city has used the levy in an annual report available at bit.ly/eugene-bond-levy-22. Information about the levy starts on page 18.

Renewed levy would maintain, increase services and safety

If renewed, the levy would maintain services included in the 2018 levy and add more:

• Park ambassadors focused on safety and park rule violations.

• Funding for cleaning up after illicit activities like graffiti.

• Recreation staff and seasonal staff for programming.

Contact city government watchdog Megan Banta at mbanta@registerguard.com. Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: What voters should know about Eugene parks levy on 2023 ballot