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Property Tax Increase For Green Space Acquisition Up to Voters

SEATTLE-A $198.2 million plan to buy more parkland will be brought before voters on Nov. 7. City officials say the issue is critical because exploding growth is rapidly raising acquisition costs.

By Ingrid Ricks | Updated on October 12, 2000

SEATTLE-Voters going to the polls on Nov. 7 will vote on an eight-year property tax increase that would raise nearly $200 million to purchase, develop and maintain parks, athletic fields, green belts and other natural areas throughout the city.

The plan, which was unanimously approved by the Seattle City Council in August, was devised with the help of a citizen’s advisory committee that spent four years identifying land in neighborhoods throughout Seattle that could be acquired, expanded upon or improved to increase the city’s green space.

Seattle City Council Member Nick Licata, who chairs the Culture, Arts and Parks committee, says the frenzy of development now underway in Seattle makes it critical that the city act immediately to preserve green space. “We have a huge obligation to purchase land now before the prices go up any more,” notes Licata. “If we don’t preserve open space in Seattle now, we won’t have it in the future. It will all end up as condominiums, office space and baseball parks.”

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