FAQ
MEASURE PRK EXPLAINED
No, this measure is not a new tax and it will not raise taxes. Instead, it just increases the tiny percentage of our existing property taxes which is protected under our City Charter to fund Recreation and Parks — a percentage which has not increased in 90 years.
Over ten years, it doubles the annual minimum guaranteed budget allocation for the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.
Having this certainty will allow L.A. Dept of Recreation and Parks (RAP) to address severe maintenance backlogs and ensure our parks are safe, clean, and beautiful.
L.A.’s parks have been severely underfunded for decades. Adjusted for inflation, the department has been cut tens of millions of dollars since 2009. That means far less staff, worse facilities and less park space for Angelenos across the City. Los Angeles has 80% fewer park rangers than there were 25 years ago despite 1000 more acres of parkland, making our parks less safe. It’s why L.A. ranked 93rd of 100 cities in the 2026 ParkScore of the 100 biggest cities in the U.S.
Parks face almost $3 billion in deferred maintenance, a 28% loss in full-time staff since 2008, and the City's own Park Needs Assessment identified $14.76 billion in one-time costs to bring LA's park system to peer-city service levels.
L.A. Recreation and Parks charter funding allocation has been frozen since 1937 — nearly 90 years. Worse, under a policy change put in place in 2009, today 40% of RAP's charter allocation ($145M) is diverted back to the General Fund for indirect costs, leaving parks with far less than the charter intended.
Nearly 1 in 3 Angelenos has to walk more than 10 minutes to get to a park - compared to 0-2% in SF, DC, NY, and Chicago. There are more Angelenos who live more than a 10-minute walk from a Park than all four of those cities combined.
Yes, absolutely. Some of the top reasons Angelenos cite why they don't go to their parks include: parks are too far away, facilities not well-maintained, no clean or open public restrooms, lack of patrolling presence, poor/uncomfortable atmosphere, inadequate shade, all of which are direct staffing-and-maintenance failures that would be addressed by this measure.
Measure PRK doesn’t increase taxes by one cent. It simply changes the floor for L.A. parks spending from the minuscule 0.0325% to the still meager 0.0650% of assessed property values. The increase would be phased in over ten years.
Measure PRK funding would increase RAP’s meager operating budget--and would go to reopening recreation programs, repairing broken facilities, hiring more park staff, improving safety and cleanliness, expanding youth & senior programming, planting trees and improving shade, maintaining playgrounds and sports fields, and investing in underserved neighborhoods.
All of the uses of the increased funds would be for park purposes only, and determined in a clear process open to the public under the oversight of the Parks and Recreation Commission. The City’s recently completed PNA gives a very detailed analysis of park needs at an individual park, neighborhood and City-wide level, creating a strong blueprint for future investment decisions.
Every neighborhood in Los Angeles. Every part of the city has recreation or senior centers that have cut hours or closed programs, facilities in need of repair, parks without adequate maintenance or rangers, and pools that have reduced public hours. Increased annual operating funding would restore services in every neighborhood — reopening recreation centers, repairing facilities, staffing parks, and repairing pools and restoring pool hours from the Westside to the Valley to South LA to the Eastside to the harbor.
Additionally, the PNA determined specific areas where new parks or green space are badly needed based on park access, environmental health and other factors.
Restoring this funding will create good green union careers in the Parks department; staffing the services and programs that working people depend on - and tending the grassy and natural spaces that capture rain and provide shade, habitat and open spaces for Angelenos and wildlife. This work will also help prepare our city to respond to climate and other emergencies: through investing in brush clearance and other fire mitigation on parklands.
Parks provide green space and shade in times, and rec and seniors cities serve as cooling centers. In times of fire, severe storms and other climate and other emergencies, park facilities serve as emergency shelters and sources of information and services.
In times of crisis, particularly economic crisis, parks are even more essential for physical and social respite, safety and social cohesion. They are critical infrastructure that give our children safe places to play sports and learn after school, a place for our families to gather, celebrate life events and stay healthy, and our seniors’ opportunities to stay active and connected. As one of the only free spaces where community members can visit without fear, they are a place of respite.
Yes! In 2011, during another fiscal crisis and in response to the changed City policy that likewise required the Los Angeles Libraries to pay a portion of its indirect costs in addition to its direct cost that cumulatively forced library closures, LA voters increased the Library's charter allocation by over 70% through a progressive phase-in from 2011-2014. Today, Libraries have rebuilt staff capacity, are open 6-7 days a week and provide essential services for our communities far beyond books.
Our park system can and should do the same: With adequate funding, RAP can invest in trained park rangers, emergency preparedness, climate resilience, mass care, fire prevention, youth and senior programming, and operate and maintain its facilities safely so all Angelenos have access to a quality park within a 10-minute walk from home.
Measure PRK will protect our lakes, rivers, and beaches, by providing funding that would get trash and pollutants out of our waterways. Measure PRK would capture and naturally filter polluted stormwater runoff and trash in parks before it enters storm drains and flows into local waterways and onto LA City beaches.