More Parks, More ‘Partnerships’ — And More Taxes?
As the City of Reno and Washoe County shake hands over the idea of a new parks district, residents are right to ask: what’s really growing here—green space or government?
The City of Reno has signed a $223,550 taxpayer-funded contract with PROS Consulting to explore a new Service Plan, a first step toward creating a park district. This sounds nice on paper—more trails, open space, and recreation—but let’s not forget: this is also the first step toward new taxes.
Why is the city teaming up with the county? Simple: the county can levy taxes, while the city cannot do it alone in this case. So while Reno continues to approve high-density development and promises new services to keep up with that growth, it turns to Washoe County not just for collaboration, but for taxing authority.
We’re told the parks system is underfunded—there’s a gap between current resources and what’s needed for maintenance, capital improvements, and operations. But instead of addressing systemic budgeting priorities, officials want to build a new taxing structure around parks. Or how about looking for other revenue streams, you know instead of the Reno City Councilmember taking all those big contributions from developers how about holding their feet the flame and requiring them to build parks, and maintain parks, we could make it a condition of residential subdivision construction.
This isn’t just a parks plan. It’s a political play dressed in green. A park district allows electeds to say they’re responding to public need, while using a regional tax to make it happen—and let’s be honest, that tax will land on residents, not developers. And let’s talk green space - the City of Reno will be hearing a master plan change at Lakeridge Golf Course - so a council who is investing $223,550 to create more green space is thinking about taking green space away at Lakeridge. Can someone explain that to us.
And while Washoe County is helping float this park district idea, some areas like West Washoe Valley are still waiting for basic services—like a fire station. So as we talk about new trails, who’s making sure all corners of the county are protected, not just beautified?
The pattern is clear: more growth, more strain on services, and more taxpayer-funded solutions to problems created by that growth. "More parks" sounds great—but in the end, it may just mean more taxes.