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Special Assessment Districts

Special assessment districts are separate units of government that manage specific resources within defined boundaries. Districts vary in size, encompassing single cities or several counties. They can be established by local governments or by voter initiative, depending on state laws and regulations. As self-financing legal entities they have the ability to raise a predictable stream of money, such as taxes, user fees or bonds, directly from the people who benefit from the services -- often parks and recreation.⁸

The use of these special assessment districts to help pay for parks has a long history in California. It began decades ago when the state passed legislation authorizing the creation of park assessment districts with voter approval . In 1934, the East Bay Regional Park District was created with a nickel-per-$100 value property assessment. The district now owns and operates 53 parks and 78,000 acres and has an operating budget of over $60 million.¹¹

Also in California, a broad-based coalition of environmentalists and community leaders led a campaign recently to create a park district with the same boundaries as Los Angeles County. In 1992, voters approved the establishment of the district and the assessment of a property tax. The $540 million raised from the assessment was used for a variety of parks and park-related funding, including acquisition, park safety, beach restoration, gang prevention facilities for at-risk youth, tree planting, and recreational enhancements. With funds running low, voters approved an additional $319 million assessment, passing the Safe Neighborhood Parks Act in November 1996.

The popularity of special park districts has spread beyond California; today, hundreds of districts exist in about two dozen states. Joining Los Angeles on the list of large cities with park districts are Chicago and Minneapolis, whose park board has the distinction of being publicly elected.