Greener LA could be within reach with new park funding measure

 Los Angeles voters may encounter a ballot measure in the upcoming 2026 election aimed at strengthening equity in the city’s parks and green spaces. 

“For too long, park-poor communities like South L.A. and the East San Fernando Valley have borne the brunt of decades of disinvestment,” said Tori Kjer, executive director of the L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust. “This initiative is our opportunity to correct these historic inequities and ensure every Angeleno has access to parks that are essential for health, climate resilience, and community well-being.”

Today, L.A.’s park system requires $14 billion to address deferred maintenance. The park system, one of the most underfunded in the city, has already suffered a 25% reduction of its full-time staff and a 10% loss of its part-time staff between 2008 and 2025. 

Last month, in response to a growing crisis around parks and green spaces, a coalition of community and parks leaders filed legal paperwork with the L.A. City Clerk seeking approval to circulate the initiative that could generate an estimated $320 million annually to restore and replenish the city’s park system.

If the initiative gathers enough valid signatures to qualify for the November 2026 ballot, those eligible to vote could soon decide whether the measure, likely a new sales tax, could help stabilize a park system that has been in decline for years. 

L.A. ranks 90 out of 100 in the Trust for Public Land's 2025 Park Score Index, declining from 49th place just five years ago. Park experts say the decline has been driven by major inequities in accessibility to recreational spaces, disproportionately higher inLatino communities and neighborhoods, where only 19% of children have close access to green space.

“Los Angeles is at a defining crossroads. While millions of residents rely on parks for recreation, climate relief, public health, and community connection, funding for these critical public spaces has failed to keep pace with the region’s urgent needs. This is a solvable problem—and this initiative is our chance to solve it,” said Guillermo Rodriguez, Pacific region vice president and California state director for Trust for Public Land. “Los Angeles can and should be one of the great park cities of the world. But that requires dedicated funding and equitable investment in communities long left out.” 

Curating and developing physical spaces that foster park and recreational equity is important throughout the city, where more than 1.5 million Angelenos, or one in three residents, lack a park within a 10-minute walk of home. This is among the lowest access rates in major U.S. cities. 

The initiative, dubbed the "Community Parks Coalition" measure, was proposed by a coalition of community and parks leaders, including theTrust for Public Land, Los Angeles Parks Foundation, the Nature Conservancy and the L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust, among others. 

According to the coalition behind the possible measure, the Recreation and Parks Department’s (RAP) budget has struggled to keep up with inflation over the past 25 years. 

Despite the current budget's inability to cover basic park needs, Alfredo Gonzalez, California director of the Resources Legacy Fund, talked about the harm behind seeing and treating parks as a luxury. 

“Parks are not a luxury; they are essential infrastructure,” he said. “They give our children safe places to play and learn, our families space to gather and stay healthy and our seniors opportunities to stay active and connected.”

The City of L.A. spends just $92 per person on parks annually, something park advocates say is well below peer cities and far behind national growth trends.

“This investment will protect and improve our parks, strengthen our neighborhoods and ensure every community has access to clean, safe, and welcoming green spaces,” Gonzalez said.

The initiative is now in the process of qualifying for the ballot, a process the City Clerk's office monitors closely.