SPRD seeks to renew local option

The Board of Directors of Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD) will seek renewal of the local option levy originally approved by the voters in 2018. The measure, 9-160, will appear on the May 16 special election ballot. The measure will renew a levy in the amount of 15 cents per $1,000 dollars of assessed property valuation.

This is the same amount voters approved in 2018.

According to SPRD Executive Director Jennifer Holland, the funds will support programming in three areas: child care; seniors; and youth athletics/recreation. The funds will also support district operations and ongoing facility costs. Holland emphasized that the Board’s priority is to keep SPRD programs affordable to everyone in the district through scholarships and subsidies for programs catering to families.

Passage of the local option levy will also allow the Board of Directors to seriously consider the option of converting the existing Sisters Elementary School building to a multipurpose community center over the next five years according to SPRD Board President Peggy Tehan.

“Without a continuation of the local option, the Board would be hard-pressed to afford the added costs that would come with taking over the elementary school site,” said Tehan.

Holland emphasized that citizens’ tax rate would not go up with passage of the levy, since it is a renewal of the existing levy. Currently the revenues derived from the 2018 local option levy constitute 20 percent of SPRD’s budget.

Ballots for the May 16 election are scheduled to be mailed out on April 26. The last day to register to vote is April 25.