Public Comment

Unlike two controversial measures on the November ballot, the parks tax increase, Measure F, is a straightforward proposition. It’s a repairs bill.

Measure F stands for fix-it, or to be more accurate, fix them: the 52 parks, 30 park buildings, 100 pathways, and 35,000 street trees that the City Parks, Recreation and Waterfront department maintains on a shoestring, only 3% of the general fund and 6% of the overall budget.

Since 1982, parks and forestry have been funded by a special parcel tax, which has not been adjusted upwards in 14 years. Population growth has increased both use and the cost of keeping our parks safe and clean and the urban forest properly cared for.

Time and weather have taken a toll on outdoor facilities including basketball and tennis courts, sports field, and community centers, which urgently need repair. Despite job cutbacks, the parks budget faces a deficit. 

Measure F is modest, a 16.7% increase to an existing tax, adding approximately $40 to the tax bill for the average 1900 square foot house, about a latte each month according to Jim McGrath, the Chair of the Healthy Berkeley Parks Committee/ Yes on Measure F. The tax is shared by residential and commercial properties including new apartment buildings and other multi-family dwellings. 

Three more maintenance positions and many needed repairs will be lost if Measure F fails to garner the required 67% of the vote. The required upgrades are detailed in the staff report to the City Council at a work session on February 11, when a Parks and Waterfront Commission recommendation was also presented 

Partially funded renovation projects include Grove Park fields, James Kenney Park lighting, John Hinkel Park amphitheater, the Ohlone Dog Park, and our beautiful iconic Rose Garden, which is in such sad shape that weddings have been cancelled due the condemnation of the decrepit trellis. 

High use park improvements include the basketball courts at Cedar-Rose, Codornices, Cragmont, Glendale-LaLoma, Greg Brown, Grizzly Peak, James Kenney, and Strawberry Creek Parks. 

Tennis courts city wide need attention as do ball fields at five parks. Much neglected Aquatic Park requires cleaning and rebuilding the outlets of the central tide tubes, dredging, and pedestrian pathways. The perimeter path of Cesar Chavez should be repaved, and the rest rooms and play areas at San Pablo Park renovated. 

The Park buildings that need repair include plumbing at the King and West Campus pools as well as locker room renovations. The MLK Community Center needs almost a million dollars in renovations including plumbing and heating. James Kenney Community Center is rotting, and needs seismic upgrade and other repairs. The Live Oak and Frances Albrier Centers have similar needs. 

According to staff, the total recommended projects add up to $25,192, 356. It’s no wonder that the City Council unanimously endorses the parks tax increase as well as all candidates, save Jacquelyn McCormick, one of four competing in District 8, who complains “It’s not enough.” 

At the Berkeley Democratic Club endorsement meeting on September 11, one woman in the audience said, “It doesn’t make sense to delay repairs because the problems will only get worse.” The BDC endorsed Measure F by 86%. 

It’s true that the parks tax increase will only generate an additional $1.7 million a year but that saves three maintenance jobs and allows the staff to plan and budget repairs, knowing that they can rely on a more robust steady income stream, until a better economy provides the foundation for an infrastructure bond. 

The tax covers existing facilities because the Council heeded the polling results of community surveys conducted in April, which showed inadequate support for new projects or the reopening of the Willard Pool. According to Council strategists, it’s safer to wait for a more favorable election than to run what could have become a losing referendum on the south side pool, so missed by families with school age children and neighbors. 

Measure F buys time for Willard Pool, they say, and also allows for neighborhood based planning of the Santa Fe right -of -way. George Beier, the President of the Willard Neighborhood Association and a candidate in district 8 who has advocated for the reopening of Willard Pool, supports Measure F, while District 2 Council member Darryl Moore, who pressed hard for development of the right-of-way, has also endorsed the tax increase. 

Measure F has garnered a broad spectrum of support from a unanimous vote at the progressive Wellstone Democratic Club to the Chamber of Commerce, since well-maintained parks not only provide recreation for people of all ages and incomes but also attract business and uphold property values. 

Realtors have long acknowledged “the proximate principle” which shows that market value of properties located near a park or open space are frequently higher than comparable properties located elsewhere. The current high price of Berkeley homes is driven by demand and such factors as the benefits of the University, central location in the Bay Area, our excellent schools, and not least, our 52 parks scattered across the City in all neighborhoods. 

The parks tax was first instituted by vote of the people as a landscape assessment district to provide a reliable income stream for maintenance of parks, trees, and landscape after Proposition 13 (1978) cut municipal funding. Berkeley has special taxes for schools and libraries for the same purpose, which like the parks tax, are based on square footage and not valuation. These fair taxes reflect our community values and reduce the tax disparity among neighbors that the county ad-valorem tax creates. 

To determine your Measure F property tax increase, find “City Landscape/Park” under “Fixed Charges and/or Special Assessments” on your bill; multiply that amount by 1.167 for the new amount, and subtract the old from the new to produce the addition. I will pay only $18 more for my cottage.  

Despite the low cost of Measure F, discontent comes from tax resisters and critics of City budgeting, including signers of the ballot argument against, who feel that mismanagement and unfunded liabilities need to be addressed before imposing more taxes. McGrath, a retired manager at the Port of Oakland, is critical of this approach, saying “You don’t wait to pay off the mortgage before fixing the roof.” 

The campaign is primarily funded by neighbors, the largest contribution of $2,000 coming from retiring City Council member Gordon Wozniak, who has shown his good sense in stepping down after 12 years and supporting the parks, which he once served as a commissioner. Jim McGrath has kicked in $1,000, and smaller amounts have been supplied by some Council members and the Yes on F committee as well as concerned members of the public, who are stepping up one by one with contributions. The parks tax has (to date) been ignored by the Mayor, who has pumped $11,000 into the downtown related No on R campaign. 

Measure F is an opportunity for voters to consider the health of the parks and forestry infrastructure as a whole, rather than by project and district. The measure is an investment in our commons, everybody’s backyard, as well as recreational opportunities for all. Parks and trees uphold personal and property values as well as the health and well-being of individuals and the community.