Copyright Newsweek
Portland voters are being called to vote on an issue next month; one that is likely to leave many feeling distraught whatever they choose: either increasing property tax bills for homeowners in the area, or letting their beloved parks go underfunded. Why It Matters A property tax hike could help Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) start to address the growing issue of its enormous maintenance backlog, which is estimated to be between $550 million and $800 million. According to the city auditors, the bureau built new facilities and improved old ones over the past few years without assessing how to “fund critical services and amenities in the long term.” Many of these facilities are now in a state of disrepair. In September 2024, PP&R reported that 86 percent of its property and assets were in poor or very bad condition. Earlier this month, auditors said that the bureau was now facing an “infrastructure crisis.” What To Know Measure 26-260 was crafted by the Portland City Council and referred to voters in June after months of debating how to present it to residents. It has received the backing of state and local leaders, as well as that of many environmental nonprofits and business groups. The proposal would extend Portland’s existing parks levy, set to expire at the end of the year, for another five years, making sure that the city can continue maintaining its parks and natural areas and paying for outdoor and community center programs—including offering swim lessons, summer camps and other recreational activities for low-income residents for free or at reduced costs. But the measure would also increase the tax by 75 percent, bringing it up from 80 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value annually to $1.40. According to city officials, the hike would mean an extra $133 a year on top of the current $177 for the average Portland homeowner, bringing the total to $310. Commercial property owners, on the other hand, would pay about $188 more, for a total of $439. For Portlanders, it is a classic case of damned if they do, damned if they don’t for Portlanders. If they agree to the increase, they get to keep their parks open and services running while shouldering a heavier property tax burden. If they reject the hike, park officials have warned they would need to slash the bureau’s current operations by up to 50 percent and lay off about half their staff, as reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting. PP&R operates and maintains 156 parks across the city, 11 indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a dozen community centers, among other facilities. Its operating budget for this fiscal year is $170 million, over 40 percent is generated from the current tax levy. Newsweek contacted Portland city auditors, the city administrator and the PP&R interim director by email for comment on Tuesday. What People Are Saying Portland City Councilor Jamie Dunphy said in a statement reported by Oregon Live: “More money for the same level of service? It’s a hard proposition for people who are grumpy at the state of local government.” Portland auditor Simone Rede wrote in her recent report: “The public received a request for renewed levy funding without evidence that Parks had systemically pursued savings. Parks risks not providing the public with important data to inform their decisions by taking this approach.” Bob Weinstein, former mayor of Ketchikan, Alaska, who ran for Portland’s City Council’s District 4 last year, wrote in an op-ed for The NW Examiner: “Supporters say the levy will ‘save’ our parks. In reality, it locks us into a cycle where costs keep rising, services stagnate and one in five park assets is at risk of failure or closure within 15 years. “This isn’t a do-or-die vote. City Council has time to craft a better levy for May 2026. For example, a $1.00 rate with 20 cents dedicated to maintenance would yield $13 million for capital maintenance—about seven times more than this proposal.” What Happens Next The measure will be put to voters on the ballot on November 4. If approved, a small portion of the extra revenues generated from the tax hike—estimated by PP&R at $456 million over the next five years—would go to address the issue of the bureau's maintenance backlog, about $2 million, according to Oregon Live. In a city-commissioned survey run last year, a majority of 64 percent of Portland voters said they would have backed a ballot measure increasing the existing city parks tax levy to avoid cuts to their green spaces and other recreational services. In response to the auditors’ report earlier this month, City Administrator Michael Jordan said his office would work with the city council to develop a long-range financial plan by the end of fiscal year 2027-28.
