The Vashon Park District turned 25 years old this year. The Island’s rural setting is enhanced greatly by our 18 parks that are all maintained and operated with the Vashon Park District (VPD) maintenance and operations (M&O) levy.
Fortunately, for the past 25 years Islanders have overwhelmingly expressed their support by passing all of the levies put before them.
In the next few weeks, we will have the opportunity to continue this support by voting for the upcoming VPD M&O levy. Historically, we have voted on a four-year levy. This time we are asking to extend it to six years. This gives us the opportunity to ask for a new levy every five years with an extra year to pass the levy if it does happen to fail. We wanted this option for a couple of reasons, the main reason being the fact that if the levy does fail, the parks will have to be mothballed due to lack of funds. What I am trying to say is that without the levy, Vashon parks will not exist.
These beautiful parks are not King County parks, they are the property of Vashon Island residents. The taxes collected here stay here. We employ Islanders and use Island subcontractors and businesses. The cost of the proposed levy to the taxpayer on a $500,000 home is a mere $250 per year. This works out to a little more than $20 dollars a month for the use of more than 500 acres of trails, forest, athletic fields and waterfront, and access to a multitude of programming that extends from sports to arts to education.
VPD also has relationships with many Vashon Island nonprofit organizations. The diversity of these groups range from the Friends of Point Robinson to Vashon Youth Baseball and Softball to the Vashon Senior Center. I could probably fill up this page with the names of all of these groups. Over the last 10 years these groups, along with VPD, have raised additional capital through grants, donations and volunteer labor to the tune of $1 million. This additional capital has been pivotal in the construction of park improvements Island-wide.
Benches, trails, bleachers, storage, parking and even dog waste management stations have been paid for using this additional capital and volunteer labor. With the volunteer force this Island has, it makes that 50 cents per $1,000 of M&O levy money go a long way, much further than with the levy money alone.
I invite you to visit the Vashon Park District office at Ober Park (or our Web site at vashonparkdistrict.org), talk with the outstanding staff and check out what is available. There is something for everyone to enjoy. I also encourage you to get out and visit all of our wonderful parks and see our dollars hard at work.
It is for these reasons that I ask for your “yes” vote on the Vashon Park District M&O levy. I assure you that the money will be well spent and the value to our community will greatly exceed the money spent.
— Joe Wald is a Vashon Park District commissioner.
