New long-term goal at the BI parks district: stabilization

Published 1:30 am Thursday, February 26, 2026

The Bainbridge Island Metro Parks and Recreation District adopted its 2026 Comprehensive Plan at the board’s Feb. 19 meeting, completing a critical document that will guide the future of outdoor spaces on the island for years to come.

Going forward, the park district’s priorities will shift away from growth to stabilization, in an effort to keep up with rising costs of labor, materials and property.

Acquisition of new facilities and outdoor spaces will take a backseat to the management of existing assets, and upgrades to infrastructure, such as improving mobility access, will be on a “maintenance-first,” quality-focused basis.

“This plan comes at a time when the park district is determining how to move forward amidst budget limitations […] To add new parkland or facilities to the system means not only drawing from a relatively small capital improvement budget, but committing to the additional associated operation costs moving forward,” the document reads.

When Bainbridge Island voters approved the formation of a metropolitan park district in 2004, they set in motion more than two decades of land acquisition, partnerships and ambitious public investments. By 2025, the park district’s holdings had grown from 1,116 acres in 2003 to 1,767 acres.

But the 2026 plan changes the benchmarks of success for the park district. Until 2020, park district plans relied heavily on an acreage ratio — 59.23 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents — and emphasized acquisition to maintain that ratio amid population growth. The 2026 update discards that singular metric and replaces it with a three-part “Level of Service” framework measuring quantity, quality and distribution.

By its own accounting, BIMPRD scores a 5 out of 5 on quantity and a 4.6 on distribution of amenities, meaning parks and programming are both plentiful and broadly accessible. But quality lags at 2.82 — part of what drew the district’s focus to an improvement and maintenance curriculum.

But the financial reality of managing a public agency in 2026 has driven much of this recalibration. State law limits property tax revenue growth to 1% annually, and the plan acknowledges that revenues have not kept pace with inflation. Additionally, 94% of the current budget is consumed by operations and maintenance, leaving little room for new capital projects. To maintain existing service levels, the document recommends pursuing a levy lid lift for each six-year cycle, going forward.

Another part of the new maintenance philosophy includes a newly institutionalized emphasis on ecological stewardship through the formal creation of a Natural Resources Department. Many natural areas on the island require habitat restoration and conservation, fire mitigation and treatment for invasive species — ongoing efforts that require investment of time and resources into existing spaces.