Portland voters may be willing to raise property taxes to maintain city parks, according to a new poll commissioned by the city.

The poll, conducted in July by FM3 Research, found that a majority of Portland voters surveyed would vote for an increase in the current five-year city tax to maintain Portland Parks and Recreation services.

The city parks levy, last renewed in 2020, is currently $0.80 per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. For example, someone who owns a $500,000 home pays $400 per year toward the levy.

The FM3 poll proposes raising that tax from $0.80 to $1.60 when the levy is renewed in 2026. Nearly 65% ​​of the 664 voters surveyed supported that plan. Based on those results, the poll’s authors said they believe a levy increase would be “feasible” if it were on a ballot in May 2025.

Voters were slightly less inclined to support an alternative proposal, first reported by Oregonian/OregonLive. This “Parks and Arts” levy would raise the tax to $1.80 and use some of the funds to fund city arts programs. In this scenario, Portland would also eliminate the city’s oft-lamented arts tax and replace it with this combined fund. Only 61% of voters surveyed supported this idea.

This is just the latest attempt to raise taxes to keep the city’s parks department afloat. The city has struggled with revenue shortfalls for years, exacerbated by the city’s need to close community centers and pools and waive user fees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The budget crisis has caused delays in key maintenance projects at city parks and facilities, which the city estimates would cost more than $600 million to repair.

Earlier this year, City Councilors Dan Ryan and Rene Gonzalez proposed a plan to enact a new property tax to jointly fund the Portland Parks Department and the Portland Fire Department.

At the time, a poll showed that 62 percent of voters would support this shared property tax. But commissioners dropped the idea because they feared that the region’s rising tax burden would discourage companies from investing in Portland.

This concern was reflected in the recent parking tax poll. Of those respondents who opposed the tax increase, nearly 70 percent said their decision was because they “didn’t want new taxes.”

It is not clear whether elected officials feel the same way.

One thing is clear: Mayor Ted Wheeler does not want this city council to make a decision to put the tax before voters. Due to the changing government structure of the city, the current council will be dissolved at the end of the year and make way for a new 12-member council in January.

Through a spokesman, Wheeler said the new council should approve tax proposals that require voter approval. The Portland City Council must put a ballot proposal on the ballot at least 61 days before an election, giving the new council several months to decide whether to put it on a vote in May.

If approved in 2025, the levy increase would largely go toward maintaining the current level of services and programs offered by Portland Parks & Recreation. If the levy is renewed in 2026 at the same $0.80 rate, the Parks Bureau estimates that these services will need to be cut by 25%.