King County Council approves placing parks levy renewal on August ballot, outlines $1.44 billion spending plan

The Metropolitan King County Council voted 7-2 on April 15, 2025, to place a parks levy renewal on the August 5, 2025 special election ballot and adopted a companion motion that details how the levy proceeds would be spent.

The levy ordinance (Proposed Substitute Ordinance 2025-0070.4) sets a rate of $0.2329 per $1,000 of assessed value and is projected to generate about $1,440,000,000 over six years. The council-approved allocation plan (Proposed Substitute Motion 2025-0077.3) directs funding to operations and maintenance, a $182 million trails investment, expanded equity and targeted grants, aquatic facility grants, ball fields and sport court investments, conservation and open-space acquisitions and capital support for regional institutions such as Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium and the Pacific Science Center.

Why it matters: Councilmembers described the proposal as a generational investment in parks, trails and community centers that they said will preserve and expand public access, support climate resilience, and increase recreational opportunities—especially in South King County and other equity areas. Supporters argued the levy would fund life-saving swim lessons, add trail connections and expand year-round play fields; opponents warned about adding to property tax burdens during a period of high inflation.

What the council approved and the debate: Budget Chair Councilmember Rod Dombowski and Regional Policy Committee Chair Councilmember Von Reichbauer led committee work that reduced the executive’s original proposal by about $13.5 million and lowered the proposed rate from earlier drafts. Amendments adopted at Regional Policy Committee and in council included a municipal parks capital and open space pass-through ($25 million), a revised city/town pass-through formula with a $75,000 base per jurisdiction plus population/assessed-value weighting, zip-code level reporting requirements for allocations, a reserved $10 million of healthy-communities grants for cities and towns, reductions to overall spending to lower the rate, and a reallocation of $3 million to Des Moines park renovations.

Multiple public witnesses representing zoos, museums, trail groups, sports organizations and local stakeholders testified in favor of the levy during the public hearing. Woodland Park Zoo, the Pacific Science Center and Seattle Aquarium described reliance on levy funds for conservation, education and capital projects; trail and bicycle advocates urged funding to complete Eastrail and the Lake to Sound Trail; youth sports and aquatic groups supported grants for ball fields and pools.

Councilmembers split on the tax question. The final roll call on the ordinance to place the levy on the ballot was 7 ayes (Balducci, Barone, Dombowski, Mosqueda, Quinn, Von Reichbauer, Zahilay) and 2 nays (Dunn, Perry). The companion allocation motion passed 8-1 (Dunn opposed). Several members urged voters to decide while others expressed concern about asking residents for an increased levy during economic pressure.

Implementation details and next steps: The motion requires reporting on project shovel-readiness, an equity report, and periodic financial and program reporting. The county will publish a voter pamphlet and the levy will appear on the August 5, 2025 special election ballot if certified. The council also preserved a requirement for municipal passthrough reporting and directed staff to provide more granular data on allocations and project readiness for 2026–2028 and a comprehensive review in 2029.

Quotes: “This is an historic vote,” Budget Chair Rod Dombowski said, calling the package a generational investment that will return dividends for decades. Councilmember Jeanne von Reichbauer, chair of the Regional Policy Committee, said the proposal reflects diverse county needs and pronounced it a unanimous RPC recommendation.

Ending: With adoption of both the ordinance to submit the measure and the companion motion allocating funds, the council sent the parks levy renewal to the August ballot and set oversight and reporting expectations meant to guide distribution and monitor outcomes.