It is now time for islanders to decide whether or not to approve a levy for the maintenance and operations of Vashon Park District — a ballot initiative that requires 60% approval to pass.

Taxes paid to the Park District account for only a small fraction of islanders’ property tax bills, about 3 percent this year.

But think of what that sliver makes possible.

The long list of community assets managed by the district includes the island’s public pool, its skate park, equestrian park, athletic fields, and the timeless, storybook vistas of Lisabeula and Point Robinson Park.

Another beloved asset is the town-center hub of Ober Park — a place where generations of children have grown up, and islanders of all ages have joyously gathered on summer nights to dance on the grass at free summer concerts.

But wait, there’s more — for three decades, the district has also facilitated low-cost use of Vashon Island School District’s school gym, fields, classrooms and theater by island youth sports clubs, performing arts groups and other local users.

This unusual partnership with the school district, called the Vashon Commons, has provided a tremendous benefit by making sports and arts participation much more accessible to all, and — the bottom line —saved islanders an untold amount of money.

And if all that wasn’t enough, the district is now tackling the complex issue of how best to replace Vashon’s Tramp Harbor Dock — an iconic but unsafe structure.

In recent years, the district has done all of this under financial constraints that are, no matter how many times we recount them, still devilishly complex and long-winded to explain.

A shorthand explanation might be to say that the Park District has truly been the Charlie Brown of our taxing districts — the lovable, earnest kid who keeps getting the football cruelly yanked away, time after time.

In 2019, voters approved a levy rate of 45 cents for $1,000 of assessed property values.

But because property values were much lower at that time, the levy produced much less revenue in its first year, 2020 — only $1.52 million.

Parks was scheduled to collect 45 cents again in 2021. But because the district’s levy rate and those of a number of other taxing districts cumulatively exceeded a legal limit of $5.90 — and because the Park District, by law, was first on the chopping block — its revenue was slashed by more than 10 percent.

The district requested, and the Legislature approved, a law in 2021 that effectively ensured that kind of “pro-rationing” wouldn’t happen again.

But instead, another bad thing happened, when the King County Assessor’s Office announced that it had made a mistake in calculating the new law’s impact, authorizing the district to collect nearly $200,000 more than it was legally entitled to in 2022.

Correcting that error, which was completely the fault of the Assessor’s Office, has brought the district’s estimated 2023 collections back down to $1.53 million.

That amount, especially given recent inflation, is unquestionably too little for the district to properly maintain its 18 parks and facilities as well as make necessary capital improvements.

So now, the district is asking voters to once again approve a levy of 45 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. And yes, that means if the levy passes, islanders will pay significantly more in taxes to the district next year than they did this year, due to the spike in property values.

For the owner of a home with an assessed value of $900,000, for instance, taxes paid to the Park District would increase from $275 this year to $405 in 2024 (assuming the assessed value doesn’t change).

Subsequently, levy collections could increase by 1 percent each year in 2025, 2026 and 2027 — an amount that could (depending on the rise or fall of property values) further pinch islanders’ wallets. Almost certainly, though, that 1 percent would not match the rise in inflation affecting the Park District in those years.

We all know that property taxes are a burden. And most of us also agree that they are a terrible way to fund government — and yet, that is what we seem to be endlessly stuck with in our state.

But we can also agree on one more thing, which should be the deciding factor.

Our island’s well-tended green space, fields and beaches, and vibrant, equitable programs provided by our Park District are not a small part of what makes this island a beautiful and healthy place to live. They are essential.

The district deserves a budget that gives it a chance to not only keep limping along but actually recover from the setbacks of the past few tumultuous years.

And from our close observation of the district’s budgeting process this year, its leadership has been completely realistic, not extravagant, in their budget projections.

And so, for the health and vibrancy of our shared public space, we urge islanders to approve this levy.