Willamalane Postpones Budget Hearing

Willamalane Park and Recreation District is announcing a postponement of its budget committee meeting, originally scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on May 27 and 28. The proposed budget book will no longer be available on May 22, 2026. 

The budget committee meeting will now be held in June. Once finalized, additional details will be available at willamalane.org/budget. 

This postponement will allow additional results from the May 19 election to be considered before the budget process moves forward. As of the second update on May 19, the measure is narrowly trailing by 259 votes, with 48.9% as yes and 51.1% as no, which is still too close to be definitively called. 

If passed, the proposed levy would help bridge funding gaps to preserve current levels of service without significant reductions. If it is not passed, the district would reduce its budget by $1.72M, including reductions in staffing, materials, services, hours, and programming. Willamalane has prepared two budget books in advance of this budget cycle, one for each scenario. 

Willamalane Executive Director Michael Wargo said, “If the levy is not passed, the district will not be able to sustain current service levels. However, Willamalane is committed to serving our community and will find a way to continue to do so.” 

In the last fiscal year, Willamalane reduced its annual budget by over $1 million. Since then, the district has also eliminated vacant administrative and leadership positions, redistributed responsibilities, reorganized staff to increase efficiency, discontinued some recreation programs, and reduced budgets for materials and services.

The proposed local option levy was part of a multi-pronged revenue approach to sustain services and cover rising costs. These include: placing greater emphasis on new recreation revenue opportunities, improving efficiency, reviewing district boundaries, and increasing focus on sponsorships, grants, and donations.