What’s in Measure P, the parks tax on most Coachella Valley ballots

LA QUINTA, Calif. (KESQ) Voters across most of the Coachella Valley are deciding whether to give the Desert Recreation District a new property tax: 5 cents per square foot of building, every year, with no end date.

Measure P is on the Nov. 3 ballot for voters in Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio and Coachella, and in unincorporated communities from Thousand Palms to the Salton Sea. A 2,000-square-foot home would pay $100 a year. The district estimates the tax would bring in $11.3 million a year. Because it is a special tax, it needs a two-thirds yes vote to pass, according to the resolution and ordinance the district's board adopted unanimously in July.

The district says it needs the money. In its own analysis of the measure, it reports spending about $6.2 million a year more than it takes in, and it lists 15 sites it says it would close and 119 jobs it says would be lost if Measure P fails. Pawley Pool in Indio and the Palm Desert Community Center top the list.

Two valley council members who spoke with News Channel 3 on Thursday said they are voting no.

"There's no plan for what they're going to do with the money," said La Quinta City Councilmember Steve Sanchez, who published an op-ed against the measure in September. "It's basically saying, hey, give me more money. We'll take care of things, don't worry about it. And that's not a plan. That's a hope."

Sanchez, who also sits on the Riverside County Local Agency Formation Commission and lost a bid for county supervisor in June, said the district should fix what he called "bad planning and poor management" before asking for a tax, and that any new tax should come with an end date.

Indio City Councilmember Glenn Miller said the district has not explained how it ended up with a deficit or what it would do with the money once the gap is closed.

"It's just not a one-time tax. It's going to be a tax that's continually going forward," Miller said. "The Desert Recreation District never came to me, none of their board members, to talk about why it was so important to them."

Both said their cities run their own parks. Sanchez said the only service La Quinta contracts from the district is lifeguards and pool management at the city-owned Fritz Burns Pool. Miller said Indio funds and runs its own parks department, and that the district's work matters most in unincorporated areas such as Thermal, Mecca, Oasis and Bermuda Dunes. The district owns Pawley Pool and the Indio Community Center, and its analysis shows Indio property is already covered by a separate district assessment capped at $54 a year.

The two differ on whether the district should exist. Miller said it should, mainly to serve county areas, and that the county and cities would fund programs "with or without the rec district." Sanchez has written that a separate regional recreation district may no longer be needed and has asked LAFCO to review the district's structure.

On jobs, Sanchez called the district's warnings "a false narrative" and "a scare tactic" and said a district board member told a recent meeting there would be no layoffs. News Channel 3 has not confirmed that account. Miller said he has asked the district for its job numbers and has not received them. He said Pawley Pool, named for a former Indio mayor, is "in disrepair," and that the city is looking at building a pool at what he called the city's "super park."

The district's own documents point to a structural problem. Its district-wide assessment is $9.90 per parcel a year and does not rise with inflation, and the district says district-wide maintenance costs more than four times what the assessment brings in. The district has been covering the difference with more of its own money each year, from about $583,000 three years ago to $4.16 million last year. Its most recent audit shows about $17 million in reserves. The district's staff grew from 343 employees in 2021 to 482 in 2024, and payroll rose from about $7 million to more than $9 million over that period, according to its filings. It also owes a $5.2 million payment in March on money it borrowed to build Thermal Community Park.

Two weeks ago the district's board voted to remove Giovanna Healy as board president after she said publicly she could not get financial information from staff. General Manager Gabriel Martin disputed her account. Healy remains on the board and voted in July to place Measure P on the ballot.

The district has tried this before. In November 2022 it asked Indio voters for a tax of 7 cents per square foot and Cathedral City voters for 15 cents. Both measures won majorities of about 54% and both fell short of two-thirds.

If Measure P passes, the tax would first appear on property tax bills in fall 2027. It applies to parcels with buildings the county assessor values above $50,000, with a 500-square-foot minimum and a 250,000-square-foot cap.

Homeowners 65 and older who live in their homes and meet the federal very-low-income limit can apply for an exemption.

The money goes into a separate account and an independent auditor reports to the board each year. The measure does not create a citizens' oversight committee. It stays in place until voters repeal it, which would take another two-thirds vote.