Parks and Recreation to prioritize $5,487,140 of Prop. 68 grants

In June 2018 the state’s vot­ers passed Proposition 68, which allocated $4 billion for state and local parks, environ­mental protection and restora­tion projects, water infrastruc­ture projects, and flood protec­tion projects. Proposition 68 included $185 million in per capita grant funding to local governments for park projects, and the County of San Diego’s share of that is $5,487,140. The county’s Department of Parks and Recreation will determine how that funding is allocated.

A 5-0 San Diego County Board of Supervisors vote No­vember 18 adopted a resolution authorizing the application for the funds and authorized the director of the Depart­ment of Parks and Recreation or his designee to conduct all negotiations and submit all necessary documents. The Department of Parks and Rec­reation director also has the authority to make non-sub­stantial amendments to the grant agreements. Although the Department of Parks and Recreation will prioritize the projects to be funded by the Proposition 68 grants, the Board of Supervisors will ap­prove the appropriation of the grant funding into the coun­ty’s budget.

The local per capita grants are awarded on a non-compet­itive basis. They may be used to support the creation, im­provement, and rehabilitation of local parks and to address deficiencies in neighborhoods without access to outdoor rec­reation facilities. The county will use the grant funding for land acquisition or for de­velopment projects related to park construction, expansion, or renovation. The grant ap­plication resolution must in­clude one or more park proj­ects whose total cost equals up to the amount of the local government’s allocation. The County of San Diego’s Depart­ment of Parks and Recreation is considering multiple park projects and will identify which ones are the most com­petitive.

If Proposition 68 grant fund­ing is provided for a project for which county-provided fund­ing has already been allocat­ed and that county-provided funding is no longer necessary for that specific project, that county funding will be reallo­cated to another capital park and recreation project.