Vote ‘yes’ on

Bellevue parks levy

Bellevue is known as a “City in a Park.” There’s a good reason for this. The city has a long history of providing outstanding parks, trails and other amenities.

Now, the city is asking voters to continue that legacy. They can do that by voting “yes” on Proposition One, a levy for city parks and natural areas.

For more than 50 years, voters have approved levies for city parks. The last levy was approved in 1988. Now it’s our turn to act.

For 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation we can add to and improve our parks. Put another way, if you own a home assessed at $580,000, you will pay $71 a year for parks. And, that’s not really new money. This levy just replaces the former one.

A dime of that 12 cents will go to buy lakefront land, natural areas and neighborhood parks. The remaining two cents will go to maintain what we have.

So, what will we get if Proposition One passes? Lots.

In addition to what we mentioned above, the money will go to to develop Eastgate Community Park. There will be money to complete the canal and waterfall at the Downtown Park.

Synthetic turf will be added to the fields at Wilburton Hill and Newport Hills, making the usable year-around.

There also will be money for the Botanical Garden, the Bellevue Youth Theatre and trails at Lewis Creek. Finally, there will be money to improve citywide trails, control erosion and improve forest condition in the Coal Creek Natural Area.

We know times are a little tougher economically. Nevertheless, parks are one of the best investments we can make. Parks are something we all can enjoy and they are there for us year-around.

The investment in this levy is well worth it. Vote “yes” on Bellevue’s Proposition One.