The city of Tigard’s parks and recreation operation is heading towards a $1 million annual deficit by the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2028, unless the city shores up its financial heading, according to city parks and finance leaders.
Such was the alarm that the city council sounded by staging a work session to “triage,” as council members termed their initial review, the looming shortfall.
“What we’re looking at is a growing gap between the parks and recreation services our community expects and how we currently fund them,” Mayor Yi-Kang Hu said to frame the discussion.
“As staff will show, that gap is projected to become a significant shortfall in the coming years, with real impacts to maintenance and programming if left unaddressed. At the same time, we know parks and recreation are core services in Tigard and central to our community’s quality of life.”
Hu couched the dialogue on April 21 as “the beginning of a conversation.”
“Our role tonight is to understand the issue and provide direction to staff on what options to explore further,” Hu said. “Each option carries tradeoffs, whether that’s change to fees, impacts to general funds or potential future voter consideration.”
To aggravate the outlook, new parklands may come online in the next couple of years, including those associated with the new River Terrace residential district.
After exploring the issue with city parks and finance leaders, the council surveyed its options for raising revenue, including bigger park transfers from the city’s general fund, higher monthly parks and recreation fees and hikes in charges for activities and events.
To conclude, Mayor Hu discounted the likelihood of a new bond levy. “Down the road, we may look at a levy for extra, but we’re not there yet,” Hu said.
