A previous version incorrectly named the type of levy request.

Ballots for the South Whidbey Parks & Recreation District levy increase are due tomorrow, Tuesday, April 22.

The parks district manages Community Park, Sports Complex, Trustland Trails, Deer Lake, Lone Lake and Goss Lake.

South Whidbey Parks commissioners are asking for a 3-cent increase to 18 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of a $300,000 would pay $54 in property taxes for parks services. [Here’s a link to a Record story about the levy lift.]

If approved, it will be the first increase in the levy rate since the parks district was founded in 1983. Within the South Whidbey voting district, the parks levy lift is the only item on the ballot.

Parks Director Doug Coutts estimated that the increase would boost the district’s budget by $115,000 based on current property values. The increased funding will cover rising costs, such as fuel and dirt, and will not be used to help fund large capital projects like the proposed aquatics center. It will also allow the district to replenish its reserve fund, which covers 25 percent of a year’s operating costs, and will create a small capital projects fund that could pay for construction of a smaller facilities, such as a picnic shelter.

Ballots must be postmarked by April 22 and can be submitted to a ballot box located at the Ken’s Korner Red Apple Grocery, 4141 Highway 525, Clinton; Trinity Lutheran Church, 18341 Highway 525, Freeland; and the Island County Elections Office, 400 N. Main St., Coupeville.