The Olympia Metropolitan Park District (OMPD) Board approved its $5.77 million budget for 2025 and finalized a tax levy on Tuesday, November 19, after incorporating updated figures from Thurston County.
The adjustments were minor, with the updated total budget set at $5,766,196.85. The figures reflect revised property assessments provided by Thurston County.
Olympia Metropolitan Park District is a junior taxing district that creates a dedicated funding source for the city's parks and programs. See related story.
“Thurston County just gave us some updated figures for the assessed value, and that has changed our revenue and our budget just a little tiny bit,” said Sylvana Niehuser, Director of Parks Planning and Maintenance.
Board members agreed to amend the resolution to reflect the updated amount. A motion was made and seconded, and the resolution passed unanimously with no objections.
Based on prior discussions, the $5.7 million budget includes allocations for operating costs, infrastructure projects, and insurance.
Director Niehuser previously detailed these expenses in a presentation to the City Council, emphasizing the impact on accessibility and community engagement projects such as the Squaxin Park Inclusive Playground and Percival Landing upgrades.
The board also approved the ad valorem (property) tax levy, which will remain unchanged from the previous year. “With the ad valorem tax, we also would request that we change the amount to $5,766,196.85,” Niehuser stated.
Joan Lutz, budget and finance manager, provided additional context, explaining, “This is the actual amount we’re going to collect. It doesn’t wiggle from here on out, unless somebody might file for some sort of amendment, which will happen in 2026.”
She also noted the unique circumstances surrounding this year’s tax calculations. “This has been a fun year because this is my first year doing the ad valorem, and it is also the first year that we’ve had a large refund,” Lutz said.
Board members expressed some skepticism about the small scale of the adjustments, given the larger budget.
They also raised the question of the precision of a $500 change within a $5.7 million budget, wondering if the amount for the upcoming year was definitive or if additional adjustments might be necessary due to factors like construction or reassessments of property values.
Lutz responded, “That is what [Thurston County is] going to collect based on those assessed values.” She confirmed, “The certified number that they tell us to work with [is final].”
As detailed in a recent report, the OMPD levy accounts for 4.8% of Olympia’s total property tax allocation. Most property taxes support schools, with Olympia School District receiving 39.4% of funds and Washington State Schools taking another 21.5%.
The allocation illustrates the distribution of property taxes across local services.
The Olympia’s property tax plan also maintains a 1% cap on growth in adherence to state laws, while the levy supports critical services including parks.
The board plans to meet again in the first quarter of 2025 and encouraged residents to join the advisory committee overseeing parks funding.
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BigOlBoloz
The problem in manufactured home communities is that when the lot rent goes up it is difficult to sell one's home. At Friendly Ridge (formerly Friendly Village), the rent is now $1300 a month. When the rent increase was announced there was a sudden increase in the number of homes for sale but hardly any have sold. We have equity in our homes that we can't recover. Many people stand to lose that equity. If an elder dies families are stuck paying that rent until the home sells. Many of these homes are too old to move to another place, a process which is too expensive as well. The City of Olympia needs to help get state laws passed to put the same restrictions on rent increases as on other domestic rentals.
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