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Olympia staff detail parks funding, MPD interlocal agreement and a nonvoted tax that sunsets in 2025
Summary
Interim Parks Director Silvana Nehauser reviewed the Metropolitan Parks District interlocal agreement, dedicated funding streams for acquisition, maintenance and development, and a nonvoted half‑percent utility allocation that sunsets at year end and would revert to the general fund unless the council acts.
Interim Parks and Arts & Recreation Director Silvana Nehauser briefed the council May 13 on funding established under Olympia’s Metropolitan Parks District interlocal agreement and associated utility taxes, describing how those commitments underlie planned park acquisitions and major projects.
Nehauser traced the funding history: a 2004 voted utility tax (VUT) provides a 2% utility tax base, with 1% dedicated to sidewalks and pathways and the remaining committed to parks acquisition and development under the interlocal agreement enacted after a 2015 ballot effort and formalized by a 2016 interlocal agreement. City materials cited an advisory committee formed by the interlocal agreement to oversee compliance.
Key numbers and uses: Nehauser said the city currently commits about $1.0 million to debt service on a roughly $16 million land acquisition package that included LBA Woods and the Yelm Highway Community Park; the city uses about $470,000 of VUT annually to support maintenance and operations for those parks and is spending about $590,000 per year to maintain the acquired properties. The presentation said the interlocal agreement also calls for spending equal to 11% of the city’s general fund on parks, a percentage derived from a 2015 baseline (10.7% rounded to 11%).
Sunset provisions and decisions: Nehauser emphasized two nonvoted utility tax halves that have different sunsets. One half‑percent sunsets at the end of 2029 and has been earmarked for parkland acquisition; the second half‑percent sunsets at the end of 2025. Nehauser said that unless the council acts, the 2025‑sunsetting half‑percent would automatically return to the general fund in 2026. She said staff were not counting on that revenue for 2026 budgeting.
Projects tied to the funding: staff said reliable MPD funding enabled development work now ready for construction — notably the Yelm Highway Community Park Phase 1 and renovations to the Armory “creative campus,” with critical life‑safety work to bring the Armory up to code. Nehauser said that on June 10 the city will present a debt finance package to council that relies on the MPD revenue commitments; without the interlocal agreement, the debt package would not be feasible, she said.
Council questions and follow up: Council Member Gilman asked about the voter utility tax’s sidewalks/pathways component; Nehauser said the city transfers $25,000 per year to transportation for “pathways to parks” projects (for example, a pathway adjacent to Garfield Elementary). Council members also pressed for clarity about how the votes and sunsets affect long‑range planning; city manager Jay Bernie and Nehauser said staff will not include the sunsetting half‑percent in planning assumptions for 2026 unless the council takes action to retain it.
Ending: Nehauser said the MPD and the revenue commitments have funded park staffing, rangers, major maintenance and acquisition of more than 500 acres since 2004, and that major projects now depend on those stable revenues. Council will consider the debt proposal for construction on June 10 and must decide whether to act if it wants to keep the sunsetting nonvoted half‑percent dedicated to parks in 2026.
