CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to the Department of Parks and Recreation; amending Ordinance 125493, which amended the 2018 Budget (Ordinance 125475), including the 2018-2023 Capital Improvement Program (CIP); reallocating funding from the Acquisition Category to the Opportunity Fund Category of the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy; and revising project allocations in the 2018-2023 CIP; all by a 3/4 vote of the City Council.
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WHEREAS, in November 1998, the First Hill Neighborhood Plan called for the improvement of existing parks and for acquisition of additional park sites in the First Hill Hub Urban Village as a result of the projected increase in population; and
WHEREAS, as part of the City’s overall park acquisition planning, the Neighborhood Parks, Green Spaces, Trails and Zoo Levy (“2000 Parks Levy”) was approved by Seattle voters for the purposes of acquiring, developing, and maintaining new neighborhood parks, greenspaces, playfields, trails, and boulevards; and
WHEREAS, in 2005, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) developed a First Hill Park Plan that projected significant population growth in First Hill and recommended several strategies to satisfy park needs in the First Hill Urban Village, including upgrading First Hill Park; and
WHEREAS, in 2008, Ordinance 122749 authorized a proposition to Seattle’s voters, a Parks and Green Spaces Levy (“2008 Parks Levy”), to levy for up to six years regular property taxes in excess of the limitation on levies in Chapter 84.55 RCW for the purposes of acquiring, developing, or restoring parks, recreation facilities, cultural facilities, greenspaces, playfields, trails, community gardens, and shoreline areas; and
WHEREAS, the 2008 Parks Levy was approved by Seattle voters on November 4, 2008; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance 122749 created four major funding categories for 2008 Parks Levy funds: 1) Acquisition; 2) Development; 3) Environment; and 4) Opportunity Fund; and
WHEREAS, despite best efforts by DPR since 2000, the rising cost of real estate in First Hill has prevented the acquisition of new park land in the First Hill Urban Village; and
WHEREAS, the First Hill Improvement Association has prioritized the improvement of existing open space as one strategy for meeting park goals, including the First Hill Park Renovation Project; and
WHEREAS, in 2016 and 2017 the First Hill Improvement Association, with matching funds from the Department of Neighborhoods, conducted extensive public outreach and retained the landscape architecture firm Site Workshop to develop designs to restore First Hill Park; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to a 2017 Public Benefits package related to the alley vacation for the Swedish Medical Center campus redevelopment, Swedish Medical Center committed to pay $500,000 into the 2008 Parks Levy Fund for improvements to First Hill Park; and
WHEREAS, the estimated cost to complete the needed improvements requires additional funding, over and above the Swedish Medical Center contribution; and
WHEREAS, the City has determined that funding being held for property acquisition could be better deployed toward park improvements at First Hill Park, and therefore that an additional $500,000 should be transferred from the 2008 Parks Levy Fund’s Acquisition Category toward that end to provide a total of $1,000,000 in funding for improvements to First Hill Park; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance 122749 provides that the City Council may, by a three-fourths vote, reallocate 2008 Parks Levy allocations across categories and subcategories; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The recommendation of the First Hill Improvement Association and the Steering Committee of the First Hill Park Renovation Project to reallocate $500,000 from the Acquisition Category of the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy (“2008 Parks Levy”) to the Opportunity Fund of the 2008 Parks Levy for the First Hill Park Renovation Project is adopted.
Section 2. In order to complete the funding package for this project, the Budget Program Level for the Acquisition Fund shall be reduced by $500,000, as follows:
|
Item |
Fund |
Department |
BSL |
Budget Control Level |
Amount |
|
2.1 |
2008 Parks Levy Fund (33860) |
Parks and Recreation |
2008 Parks Levy (BC-PR-1000) |
08 Levy Neighborhood Park Acq (PC-PR-14000) |
($500,000) |
|
Total |
($500,000) |
Section 3. In order to pay for necessary costs and expenses incurred, or to be incurred, but for which insufficient appropriations were made due to causes that could not reasonably have been foreseen while making the 2018 Budget, appropriations for the following items in the 2018 Budget are increased from the funds shown, as follows:
|
Item |
Fund |
Department |
BSL |
Budget Control Level |
Amount |
|
3.1 |
2008 Parks Levy Fund (33860) |
Parks and Recreation |
2008 Parks Levy (BC-PR-1000) |
08 Parks Levy Opportunity Fund (PC-PR-15000) |
$1,000,000 |
|
Total |
$1,000,000 |
This $1,000,000 appropriation increase to the Parks Levy Fund’s Opportunity Category reflects the reallocation of the $500,000 reduced from the Park Levy Fund’s Neighborhood Park Acquisition Category in Section 2 of this ordinance plus the allocation of an expected $500,000 payment from Swedish Medical Center into the Parks Levy Fund.
Section 4. The 2018-2023 Adopted Capital Improvement Program is hereby amended to include the following new project and allocation as described in Attachment 1 of this ordinance:
|
Department |
Project Name |
Project ID |
Amount |
|
Parks and Recreation |
First Hill Park Renovation Project |
MC-PR-15015 |
$1,000,000 |
Section 5. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force 30 days after its approval by the Mayor, but if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten (10) days after presentation, it shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Section 1.04.020.
Passed by a 3/4 vote of all the members of the City Council the _____day of __________, 2018, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this ____day of __________________, 2018.
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President ____________ of the City Council
Approved by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2018.
____________________________________
Jenny A. Durkan, Mayor
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2018.
____________________________________
Monica Martinez Simmons, City Clerk
(Seal)
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - First Hill Park Renovation Project