Tax to Fix San José's Dilapidated Parks Won't Appear on November Ballot

Despite months of discussion, the San José City Council on Tuesday scrapped plans for a tax measure on the November ballot to fund park maintenance after city polling showed it was unlikely to muster the necessary support from voters.

With the city facing a parks maintenance backlog of over $450 million, council members instead opted to reevaluate the idea ahead of the 2026 election.

“In underfunded park districts like mine in Eastside San José, the quality of the park is the difference between it being a gang hotspot or it being used by families and young children,” Councilmember Peter Ortiz said. “That being said, I can see the writing on the wall and recognize that today or this election cycle may not be the best time to put this on the ballot.”

Council members acknowledged hearing a steady stream of complaints from residents about dilapidated playgrounds, patchy grass turf and graffitied structures. Still, they voted unanimously to delay consideration of a plan to pay for the fixes, citing the difficulty of securing the required support from two-thirds of voters to pass a new parcel tax on property owners.

Early polling proved discouraging: In July, 1,200 likely voters in the city were asked about tax ideas, including a $35 flat tax per property and a 1/2 cent levy per square foot levy. The measure would have raised roughly $21 million annually to clean trails and recreational facilities and clear homeless encampments in parks.

Fifty-nine percent of likely voters said they would support the tax. When voters were read arguments for and against the measure, support slipped to 52%. Typically, support for tax measures declines over the course of an election — rendering the parks tax idea dead on arrival.

“It doesn’t appear that there is a whole lot of room for arguments in support to make progress with voters,” said Peter Hamilton, assistant to the city manager.

The parks tax would have appeared on a November ballot already crowded with spending measures. Voters will be asked to approve two statewide bonds for school construction and climate infrastructure, along with a regional bond to fund affordable housing.

Local agencies have recently added their own borrowing requests to the ballot — such as a $1.15 billion bond for the San José Unified School District.

Opponents of the council’s decision to delay the parks measure warned that passing a tax may not be any easier in a future election.

Pierluigi Oliverio, a former City Council member, told the council that a vote in 2026 could come amid worse economic conditions — and with a more conservative midterm electorate less likely to support new spending.

“I can assure you that there will be no organized opposition to this tax in this year,” Oliverio said. “In a future year, I can’t guarantee that.”

Parks advocate Jean Dresden challenged council members to spend the next two years building public support for a parks measure.

“A successful campaign is built over time by educating the population, by having a clear spending plan, by doing message development and then finally boots on the ground,” Dresden told the council. “Who among you will step up?”