A proposed taxing district in Washington County could shrink funding for Beaverton-area parks and fire protection, the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District warned.

In a letter dated Oct. 19 and entered into the record at the Board of County Commissioners' Oct. 20 meeting, THPRD Board President Tya Ping asked the county to hold off on issuing a letter of support for a new OSU Extension and 4-H Service District.

The board urged commissioners to consult with all local governments that share the property tax base before moving forward.

The stakes are real. THPRD said it lost $17,500, or 0.04% of its property tax funding, to compression in 2024. In just two years, that loss grew to $907,687, or 1.43% of its tax base.

"A new funding district should not be advanced without an understanding of its effects on the services residents already rely upon, particularly when areas of the county are already experiencing compression," the THPRD board wrote in the letter, which appears in the BCC's draft meeting minutes.

The board's letter described what it called Oregon's "failing property tax system," in which local governments compete for a limited pool of property tax revenue.

When total levies exceed certain caps, existing districts lose funding through a process called compression. THPRD argued that adding a new taxing entity would worsen that problem.

The letter also noted that the county's draft Oct. 20 letter of support for the proposed district was addressed only to mayors and city councilors.

Special districts such as THPRD and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue were left out of the outreach, the board said.

THPRD said it learned of the proposal only recently. The board said the OSU Extension and 4-H Service District "is worth exploring, but timing and impact matter," and called on the county to pursue property tax reform before adding new taxing entities.

The draft minutes do not record any commissioner response to the THPRD letter at the Oct. 20 meeting.

Four commissioners were present: Vice Chair Jerry Willey, who chaired the session, along with Nafisa Fai, Pam Treece and Jason Snider.