Parks bond on ballot
July 30, 2008
By Emily Keller
$19 million measure is city’s first park initiative
When Sammamish homeowners head to the polls this fall they will vote for more than a new United States president - they will also have the chance to tax themselves to provide financial support for parks and recreation facilities.
The Sammamish City Council will place two parks measures on the Nov. 4 ballot.
The first asks homeowners to pay 14 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation per year for capital construction.
The bond would raise about $19 million, $18 million for the construction plus $1 million in bond fees.
The construction fee would last 20 years and cost the owner of an average Sammamish home about $84 per year.
The second bond would establish a maintenance fee of four cents per $1,000 valuation to maintain those projects.
It would be added to the property tax and cost the owner of an average $600,000 home about $24 per year. That would continue indefinitely.
The park bond, which is the city’s first, allocates $5 million to purchase the vacated county library building after the new library opens.
The city would use the building as an all-ages recreation center operated through a partnership with a local youth organization, most likely the Boys and Girls Club.
The bond also includes $3 million for the first phase of Sammamish Landing, $1.8 million for East Sammamish Park improvements, $2.5 million for athletic fields at Pine Lake Park Middle School, $1.7 million for the Beaver Lake Vicinity Trail and $4 million for land acquisition in the northeast portion of the city.
The maintenance fund is projected to generate $310,000 per year.
The council voted 6-0 at its July 21 meeting to place the measures on the ballot. Councilwoman Nancy Whitten was absent.
Council members said they are thrilled to support the bond and levy measures and that educating the public will be critical to garnering the 60 percent support that is required to pass them.
Councilwoman Michele Petitti said the council has been talking about a park bond for all seven years she has served the city.
“This year it’s like the three bears. We’ve looked at little, big and in-between and this is kind of the in-between,” she said, referring to a variety of early proposals.
Councilman Mark Cross praised the bond.
“I think the sports field, the trail, the acquisition of land in the northeast portion of the city are all things that fill holes in our city services and I’m very pleased to vote for it tonight,” he said.
Reporter Emily Keller can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or ekeller@isspress.com.
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