This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 8.
Evergreen Park & Recreation District staff members are revising the proposed 2024 budget now that voters approved continuing a property-tax extension set to expire in 2025.
Staff will discuss the budget at the next rec district board meeting at 5 p.m. Nov. 14. Executive Director Cory Vander Veen said staff will look at which deferred maintenance and facility priorities listed in the rec district’s strategic plan can be done first.
About 65% of the funds generated by the property-tax extension will be used for maintenance and updating the district’s facilities and parks.
In unofficial results, voters favored the extension — known as ballot issue 6C — by 73% to 27% of the vote.
“I am obviously very pleased with the results and the broad base support from the Evergreen community,” said Peter Jacobson, who spearheaded the effort to get the property-tax extension approved.
Property owners of a house valued at $750,000 will continue to pay about $90 a year. The property-tax extension will generate about $1.3 million a year in additional revenue for the district. The strategic plan and the ballot measure say the money will be used for maintaining district facilities, rebuilding recreation and expanding services.
Opponents were concerned about the uncertainty of property taxes this year thanks to the property reassessments and to Proposition HH, which was also on the November ballot. Some also wanted the property-tax extension to be tied to specific projects requested in a community survey used to create the rec district’s strategic plan.
Proponents of 6C say that while not everyone agrees on how the money should be spent, everyone should be able to agree that any improvements help Evergreen as a community. They also pointed to the Evergreen Lake North Trail, which the rec district supervised, that was completed earlier than projected and on budget. They said the rec district would be good stewards of the money.
Community elections are dynamic, so this story may be updated as new information becomes available.
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