King County regional panel approves amended parks levy plan, sends measure to full council

Councilmember Joe von Reichbauer, chair of the King County Regional Policy Committee, presided as the committee on Tuesday approved an amended funding allocation and a companion ordinance to place a six‑year King County parks levy on the Aug. 5, 2025 ballot and forwarded both items to the full County Council.

The committee approved Proposed Motion 2025‑0077.2 (as amended) and Proposed Ordinance 2025‑0070.2 by recorded votes. The amended plan lowers the initial levy rate and adjusts allocations for capital, grants and operations while keeping the levy on the Aug. 5 ballot for voter consideration.

Why it matters: The parks levy funds a large share of the county parks budget and supports maintenance and capital work across unincorporated King County and cities, plus pass‑through funding to cities, park districts and cultural venues. Committee members described the changes as an effort to balance affordability for property owners while preserving targeted equity grants, acquisition and trail investments.

John Taylor, a county staff member supporting the parks proposal, told the committee the levy “provides the lion’s share of funding for the King County Parks Department” and supports maintenance of roughly 32,000 acres of parks, major regional facilities and pass‑through grants to cities and cultural venues.

The executive originally transmitted a proposal with an initial rate of 24.43¢ per $1,000 of assessed value that would have generated about $1.5 billion over six years. Committee staff summarized a budget committee (BFM) revision (version 2) that reduced the rate to roughly 23.53¢ and the projected total to about $1.45 billion. At committee action the ordinance and motion were further amended, producing a new rate reflected in the ordinance amendment (0.7B) and the amended allocation in the motion as approved by the committee.

Key policy changes the committee adopted in the motion and reflected in the staff report include: - Making an off‑the‑top allocation of up to $22 million for the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center; - Setting or adjusting off‑the‑top amounts for grant programs (for example, making community partnerships and healthy communities grants explicit line items and keeping healthy communities grants at $30 million with $10 million of that set aside for cities in the committee compromise); - Changing the city/town pass‑through formula for a $119 million distribution to jurisdictions (amendment 1.5); - Reducing some capital and program lines in order to lower the levy rate modestly (amendment 2.5B adopted after compromise), including reductions to open‑space acquisition, dog‑park funding, general infrastructure and regional trail rehabilitation while preserving targeted equity grant funding at the agreed level.

Committee members and executive staff repeatedly noted that the adopted reductions are “scalable” and that any reduction reduces what the levy can accomplish. Warren Jimenez, Division Director for King County Parks and Recreation, joined the meeting and answered technical questions about acquisition and project readiness. Jake Tracy and Sherry Hsu of council staff briefed the committee on allocation tables and where detailed comparisons between the current levy and the proposed levy appear in the staff report.

Councilmember Dombowski, chair of the King County Budget Committee, emphasized that some cuts considered by cities would harm high‑priority items, but supported the compromise package that preserved the Healthy Communities and Parks grant total while carving out a city set‑aside.

The committee also adopted a motion requiring the executive to certify, in 2026–2028 appropriation ordinances, that capital projects funded in those years are “viable, eligible, legal, and scheduled to begin construction or acquisition” during the levy period, and to recommend reallocations in 2029 for projects that do not meet those criteria. Committee legal counsel confirmed the motion provides guidance to the executive and does not bind council appropriations.

Ending note: Both the amended motion (2025‑0077.2 as amended) and the amended ordinance (2025‑0070.2 as amended) were approved in recorded votes and will be considered by the full King County Council on April 15, 2025. Committee members said they intend the package to balance voter affordability with continued investments in parks, trails, land acquisition and equity‑focused grants.

Votes at a glance: Proposed Motion 2025‑0077.2 — adopted by the Regional Policy Committee (12 ayes, 0 nays, 0 excused); sends the committee’s funding allocation (as amended) to the full County Council for final action. Proposed Ordinance 2025‑0070.2 — adopted by the Regional Policy Committee (11 ayes, 0 nays; 2 members excused); ordinance (as amended) places the six‑year parks levy proposition on the Aug. 5, 2025 ballot and reflects the committee’s reduced levy rate and allocation changes.