Lacey staff recommends east-side soccer upgrades as next step for Regional Athletic Complex amid looming debt deadline

Lacey Parks, Culture & Recreation staff told the Parks Board on June 4 that, given limits on Public Facility District (PFD) sales tax revenue and a looming debt-timing deadline, the next feasible step for the Regional Athletic Complex (RAC) is to prioritize soccer-related improvements on the complex’s east side and upgrades to the existing soccer field.

The recommendation follows a year of master planning and a consultant-led study that produced three concepts for the undeveloped west parcel and several options to convert the current soccer field to synthetic turf and add lights and seating.

Why it matters: the city shares a portion of a PFD sales tax with Olympia and must have outstanding project debt through Nov. 30, 2027, to preserve authorization for the tax. Troy Wu, the city’s finance director, told the board the governor had signed a bill on May 17 extending the PFD authorization and that the city needs to have debt outstanding on the original project to keep collecting the tax.

“One of the conditions on that sales tax is that there is outstanding debt,” Wu said. “If there isn’t outstanding debt,…