Where Tacoma’s Metro Parks plans to invest $25M in parks, heritage sites in 2025-2026
Metro Parks Tacoma plans to invest more than $16 million in regional parks, $7 million in neighborhood and community parks and $2 million in heritage and landmark assets over the next two years, according to a preliminary draft of the 2025-2026 budget.
That includes about $7.2 million for Point Defiance Zoo’s North Pacific Aquarium and Exhibits, $7.5 million for waterfront parks and facilities, $3.7 million for sports complexes and athletic-field renovations, and $1.7 million for community centers.
Revenue for the next biennium budget is about 18% higher than it was in 2023-2024 and expenditures are about 19% higher, according to district budget numbers. Metro Parks leadership says the budget increase is in response to services the community has said it wants, in addition to rising costs and increased workloads across divisions.
“Unfortunately, everything costs more these days,” said Debbie Russell, director of Business, Administration and Planning in an emailed statement to The News Tribune on Tuesday. “We will continue to direct resources to support our investment in safety and security, add more services and programming like Summer Teen Late Night and ensure our parks are welcoming to all.”
The final public hearing about the 2025-2026 Metro Parks budget will take place Dec. 2 at noon, and the budget is expected to be adopted Dec. 9.
By the numbers
Metro Parks Tacoma anticipates having $212,823,461 in total revenue and expenditures in 2025-2026, compared to $180.8 million in revenue and $178.6 million in expenditures in 2023-2024, according to the preliminary budget.
In the next two years Metro Parks Tacoma expects to receive about $70.7 million in property tax revenue and $33.2 million in sales tax revenue. Grants, subsidies from the city of Tacoma, donations, earned revenue and other miscellaneous revenue make up the rest of Metro Park’s budget.
Most of the spending in 2025-2026 (about $141.4 million) is on salaries and benefits, followed by service charges ($46.8 million) and materials and supplies ($15 million).
Metro Parks typically spends about 60% of its overall budget on salaries and benefits and plans to spend 66% of the budget on that in the next two years, “so we can pay fair market wages and be competitive to both retain and hire highly qualified and creative staff,” said parks communications spokesperson Stacia Glenn via email.
According to the preliminary budget, the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma is adding 49 full-time positions in the next two years, including 35 in the Parks and Recreation Department, 11 in the business administration and planning department, two in the office of the executive director and one in the Zoological and Environmental Education Department.
Glenn said the 49 hires are “an investment in personnel” in addition to addressing “capacity shortages from 2021-2023 and to accommodate increased workloads across all divisions.”
“The new positions range from maintenance to recreation specialists to planning to community engagement. An example is the Park Guides program, which has successfully reduced emergency calls and improved the feeling of safety, which has downstream revenue benefits and warrants further investment,” Glenn said. “We started with four positions in 2023, added two additional positions in 2024 and will add one more in the next biennium.”
As for the cost of materials and supplies, Glenn said, “With strong demand combined with ongoing supply issues, inflation has increased and remains high. This results in increases to operational and maintenance costs which are highly uncertain given recent price inflation for fuel, construction and services.”
Which places would see investments in the next biennium?
Regional parks
Point Defiance Park: about $9.2 million
Titlow Park: about $6.2 million
Northwest Trek Wildlife Park: about $4.7 million
Swan Creek Park: about $1.4 million
Dash Point Pier: $420,000
Thea Foss Waterway parks: $50,000
Metro Parks is also exploring the feasibility of applying for state and federal program funding to replace a pipe at Titlow Beach that claimed the life of a University Place man over the summer when he drowned after being sucked into the culvert that moves seawater between Puget Sound and a Metro Parks Tacoma lagoon.
Cultural landmarks
Fort Nisqually Living History Museum: about $2.4 million
Neighborhood and community parks
Portland Avenue Park: about $3.1 million
Stewart Heights Park: about $1.4 million
Trust for Public Lands effort to transform schoolyards into community parks: about $1.3 million
Jefferson Park: $575,000
Lincoln Eldridge Park: $550,000
Cloverdale Park: $500,000
Oakland-Madrona Park: $500,000
Wapato Park: $461,000
Sports complexes and athletic field renovations
Peck Fields: about $3 million
Meadow Park Golf Course: $400,000
Community centers
Districtwide: $682,608
People’s Center: $400,000
Norpoint Community Center: $250,000
STAR Center: $200,000
South End Community Center: $194,000
