Title
AN ORDINANCE providing for the submission to the qualified electors of King County at a special election to be held in King County on August 6, 2013, of a proposition authorizing a property tax levy in excess of the levy limitation contained in chapter 84.55 RCW for a period of six consecutive years, at a total rate of not more than $0.0932 per one thousand dollars of assessed valuation in the first year with annual increases by the percentage increase in the consumer price index or the limitation in 84.55 RCW, whichever is greater in years two through six, for the purpose of maintaining and operating King County's parks system.
body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. King County owns and operates a system of regional and local parks and trails that consists of twenty six thousand acres of parklands and more than one hundred seventy five miles of regional trails. The county provides regional trails, regional recreational facilities, regional natural area parks and local rural parks, and is the transitional provider of local parks in the urban unincorporated areas. Examples of regional county parks and trails include Marymoor Park, Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center and the Sammamish River Trail.
2. Public parks, natural areas and trails contribute to a high quality of life. A robust system of parks and trails provides: physical, social and mental health benefits to individuals; economic opportunity through recreation and tourism; economic growth for private businesses that must attract and retain skilled workers; and environmental benefits and cultural resource protection through open space conservation. King County's parks system provides all these benefits to King County residents and businesses.
3. The 2002 Parks Business Transition Plan, which was adopted by the King County council, became the blueprint for establishing the regional parks system we have today. The parks and recreation division of the department of natural resources and parks has successfully focused its lines of business on regional parks and trails, backcountry trails, natural lands and local parks in unincorporated King County and has been implementing business practices that generate revenue from park system assets by implementing or increasing user fees and establishing corporate and community partnerships that enhance park amenities and leverage public and private dollars to improve parks and increase access to parks.
4. Consistent with the recommendations of past parks-related task forces, the county has sought voter-approved levies on two prior occasions: in 2003, to provide maintenance and operating funding for the parks and recreation division for the period of 2004-2007; and in 2007, to provide funding for maintenance and operating, as well as funding for open space acquisition and asset maintenance and improvement, for the period of 2008-2013. Voters approved the levies on both occasions that they were on the ballot. The voter-approved levies have helped keep the parks system open, clean and safe.
5. Approximately seventy percent of the operating budget of the parks and recreation division is provided by the 2008-2013 voter-approved operations and maintenance levy, with approximately seventeen percent generated through business activities and entrepreneurial efforts. King County general fund support to the parks and recreation division was eliminated as of 2011.
6. Parks levy citizen oversight committees were established to monitor the expenditures of the proceeds from the 2004-2007 and 2008-2013 levies. In every year of its review, the committee has concluded that the county has complied with all levy requirements.
7. The King County executive convened the King County parks levy task force in June 2012 to recommend a funding plan for the current park system and how to address the parks and recreation needs of King County residents in the future. The task force, which met from June to October, was comprised of twenty-two individuals representing all geographic areas of the county, as well as business, recreation, community, and environmental interests.
8. The task force issued a report in October 2012, recommending that the county replace the expiring levies and put a ballot measure before the voters in 2013 that requests a six-year inflation-adjusted property tax levy lid lift at a total rate of $0.1901 per one thousand dollars of assessed value. The task force recommended continuing to fund maintenance and operations of King County's parks system, as well as funding critical infrastructure repair and replacement, acquisition and stewardship of open space, as such lands can provide for passive or active recreation opportunities and/or protection of habitat and water quality, and the continued development of regional trail corridors, including strategic connections between trails and transportation hubs to improve mobility. The task force also recommended providing support to King County's cities for local parks and recreation capital purposes and to the Woodland Park Zoological Society for education and conservation programs, horticulture and maintenance, and capital improvements.
9. The King County council supports the findings and recommendations of the task force and has put forth two funding proposals that together are consistent with the goals and priorities of the task force, decreasing the amount recommended by the task force in recognition of the many economic pressures faced by local households.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Definitions. The definitions in this section apply throughout this ordinance unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
A. "Levy" means the levy of regular property taxes, for the specific purpose and term provided in this ordinance and authorized by the electorate in accordance with state law.
B. "Levy proceeds" means the principal amount of funds raised by the levy, any interest earnings on the funds and the proceeds of any interim financing following authorization of the levy.
C. "Limit factor" means the ratio of the most recent June Consumer Price Index to the immediately previous June Consumer Price Index, which is the final published CPI-W Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, as calculated by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, or its successor, expressed as a multiple of one hundred percent to achieve the result of one hundred percent plus inflation, or the limitation contained in chapter 84.55 RCW, whichever is greater.
D. "Parks system" means any building or other structure, park, open space, natural area, resource or ecological land, trail, or other property owned or otherwise under the jurisdiction of the parks and recreation division of the department of natural resources and parks.
SECTION 2. Levy submittal to voters. To provide necessary funds for the purposes identified in section 4 of this ordinance, the King County council shall submit to the qualified electors of the county a proposition authorizing a regular property tax levy in excess of the levy limitation contained in chapter 84.55 RCW for six consecutive years, with collection commencing in 2014, at a rate not to exceed $0.0932 per one thousand dollars of assessed value in the first year of the levy period. In accordance with RCW 84.55.050, this levy shall be a regular property tax levy subject to the limit factor.
SECTION 3. Deposit of levy proceeds. The levy proceeds shall be deposited into a dedicated subfund of the parks and recreation fund, or its successor.
SECTION 4. Eligible expenditures. If approved by the qualified electors of the county, levy proceeds shall be used for the following purposes:
A. Ninety-two and one-half percent for maintenance and operations of King County's parks system; and
B. Seven and one-half percent for major maintenance repair, replacement and improvement of parks system infrastructure.
SECTION 5. Call for special election. In accordance with RCW 29A.04.321, the King County council hereby calls for a special election to be held in conjunction with the primary election on August 6, 2013, to consider a proposition authorizing a regular property tax levy for the purposes described in this ordinance. The King County director of elections shall cause notice to be given of this ordinance in accordance with the state constitution and general law and to submit to the qualified electors of the county, at the said special county election, the proposition hereinafter set forth. The clerk of the council shall certify that proposition to the King County director of elections in substantially the following form:
The King County council has passed Ordinance ____ concerning funding for parks, trails, recreational facilities and open space. This proposition would replace the expiring maintenance and operations levy for the King County parks system. This proposition authorizes an additional property tax of $0.0932 per $1,000 of assessed value for collection in 2014 and authorizes increases by the annual percentage change in the CPI or the limitation in 84.55 RCW, whichever is greater, for five succeeding years. Should this proposition be:
Approved? __
Rejected? __
SECTION 6. Parks levy citizen oversight board established.
A. If the proposition in section 5 of this ordinance is approved by the qualified electors of King County, a parks levy citizen oversight board shall be appointed by the executive. The board shall consist of nine members. Each councilmember shall nominate a candidate for the board from the councilmember's district no later than ninety days from the start of the first year of collections. If the executive does not appoint within sixty days of the nominations a person who has been nominated by a councilmember, the executive must request that the councilmember should within thirty days of the request nominate another candidate for appointment. Members shall be confirmed by the council. Members shall be residents of King County and may not be elected or appointed officials of any unit of government.
B. The board shall review the allocation of levy proceeds and progress on achieving the purposes of this proposition. On or before December 31, 2015, the board shall review and report to the King County executive and the King County council on the expenditure of levy proceeds for 2014. Thereafter, the board shall review and report to the King County executive and the King County council on a biennial basis coinciding with the county's biennial budget cycle. The parks and recreation division shall provide the board with all reports on division activities that the division transmits to the King County council in accordance with K.C.C. 7.08.090. The board expires December 31, 2020.
SECTION 7. Ratification. Certification of the proposition by the clerk of the King County council to the director of elections in accordance with law before the election on August 6, 2013, and any other acts consistent with the authority and before the effective date of this ordinance are hereby ratified and confirmed.
SECTION 8. Severability. If any provision of this ordinance is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.