The Blaine-Birch Bay Park & Recreation District 2 (BBBPRD2) board of commissioners announced at its October 10 monthly meeting it will present a ballot measure to renew its levy of $0.10 per $1,000 of assessed home valuation in the February 13, 2024 special election.
The announcement came after the district failed to submit a levy request before the filing deadline for the upcoming November 7 ballot. District director Heather Lindsay said staff turnover due to Covid was to blame for the district missing the deadline.
The proposed levy, Resolution 2023-10, will continue the same six-year, $0.10 property tax levy approved by voters in 2017. Lindsay said that although inflation has increased staffing and program costs in the seven years since voters last approved the levy, it’s imperative for BBBPRD2 to keep costs down for its constituents.
“Our mission is to provide recreational opportunities to everyone,” Lindsay said. “We know that a lot of people are hurting from the economy right now and that even raising [prices] from $3 a lesson to $5 a lesson is a lot for some of our constituents. We believe that we can do everything that we offer within a budget, and that 10-cent budget we can manage.”
The district offers classes and programs partnered with Blaine Youth Sports, the senior center, the city of Blaine and the Blaine school district. Lindsay said since Covid restrictions were eliminated, demand for recreation opportunities in Blaine and Birch Bay has increased dramatically.
As of time of printing, BBBPRD2’s levy will be one of three proposed property taxes on the February 2024 ballot, with the Blaine school district approving an “enrichment levy” of $0.98 and a bond levy of $0.76 per $1,000 valuation. The resolution deadline for the special election is December 15.
Lindsay doesn’t see the district’s levy as competing for space with the school district’s proposed property taxes, but as a continuation of the existing tax rate that brought so many recreational opportunities to the community.
“The important thing about our levy is that it’s not going up,” Lindsay said. “It’s maintaining what we already have.”
BBBPRD2’s budget is able to handle missing the November 2023 general election deadline, but if voters do not approve the tax in February’s special election, staffing cuts may have to be considered, Lindsay said.
“We have enough funds to last definitely through the year [2024] without making any changes,” Lindsay said. “If we don’t have a levy pass next year in 2024, we will still be here in 2025, but changes will have to be made.”
If passed, the property tax levy will cost $50 a year, or $4.16 a month, for a home assessed at $500,000.
“If this levy passes, we have the opportunity to add more programming by increasing hours in our youth programming,” Lindsay said. “[The levy] will give us an opportunity to expand staff there so we can handle more youth.”
More pickleball for everybody, Lindsay hopes.
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