West Linn council weighs parks-fee increases to help pay for $45 million operations center

West Linn 9City Council members opened a lengthy discussion Jan. 13 on whether to raise the city—s parks maintenance fee to cover both ongoing park upkeep and the parks share of a proposed $45 million operations center.

Finance Director Lauren Brighthavan told the council the staff proposal has two components: a $5-per-month increase effective in the February billing cycle to bring parks maintenance revenues roughly in line with expenses (staff estimate: current revenues cover about 83 percent of maintenance costs), and a July 1 increase of $5.20 to fund the parks department—s approximately 17—to-18 percent share of the debt service tied to the full faith and credit obligation the council approved in December. Brighthavan said the city plans to issue the bond tentatively in March with the first debt-service payment due the following December.

The proposal would phase the parks portion of the debt service into utility bills rather than charge it from the general fund, Brighthavan said. "About 17 and a half percent of that is going to be paid back from the parks department's revenues," she said.

Mayor Bialystoski and several councilors emphasized public outreach. Communications staff Danielle Choi and Doug Erickson previewed a "Funding Our Future" communications approach that pairs short infographics and long-form background materials on a central engagement hub (yourwestland.com) so residents can choose how deeply to engage.

Parks Director Megan Big John described maintenance capacity: West Linn has roughly 600 acres of parks and open space served by nine full-time equivalent maintenance staff — two to three times the acreage per staff compared with national best-practice benchmarks, she said. That operational gap, Big John said, explains part of the shortfall the fee increase would address.

Councilors requested additional detail before a vote. Councilor Bonnington called the topic "the most important issue" the council will address this year and asked staff for a full picture of deferred maintenance costs and options for ensuring sustained funding. Councilor Groener asked for historical staffing trends and comparisons with neighboring cities. Council President Baumgartner asked staff to include information about low-income utility assistance and possible phasing options to reduce immediate household impacts.

City Manager (unnamed) said staff could assemble the requested materials quickly and proposed a work session next week or the first work session in February; he identified the council's tentative goal of taking a vote in February on either the single $5 increase or the combined $10.20 increase, depending on the council—s direction.

The council did not take a vote Jan. 13. Staff said they would return with comparative fee tables, deferred-maintenance estimates, staffing trend charts and draft communications materials for council review at the upcoming work session.

The council—s next step: a scheduled work session to review the package and set a target date for any formal vote.