Greenways Fund: $57M collected, no public parcel record
Fund 173 — voter-approved Greenway levies funding undisclosed land acquisitions
Bellingham's three voter-approved Greenway levies (II, III, V) have collectively pulled ~$57M into Fund 173 with the same one-line capital-plan authorization pattern as the Watershed Fund — and the same absence of individual-parcel council records.
Greenways V is collecting $9.83M/year (2024-2026 cumulative $28.76M) — roughly 3.4× the pace of its predecessor Greenway III. Like the Watershed Fund, the 6-Year Capital Plan authorizes the spending with a single line; the parcels purchased have not been individually presented to council in any record we've searched.
The Finding
Bellingham's voter-approved Greenways V levy collected $28.76M cumulative 2024-2026 ($9.83M latest year), and the predecessor Greenway III levy collected $28.60M cumulative 2013-2023. Both flow into Greenways Capital Projects Fund (#173). The combined Greenway property-tax inflow over the documented years is roughly $57M.
The fund's primary documented use, per the 6-Year Capital Plan and the city's adopted budget, is land acquisition — buying parcels out of development to add to the public greenway system. Like the Watershed Fund, the Capital Plan authorizes the spending with a single line item; individual parcel acquisitions are not on the council record we have searched.
Two Greenway levies, one fund, no parcel-level governance
The Greenways program has had three voter-approved levies (II, III, V) plus an endowment. Each levy was sold to voters with a specific dollar cap and a stated land-acquisition purpose. Real Record's question:
- What's the cumulative total collected across all Greenway levies since 1990?
- How many acres of land have been acquired with that money?
- What was the average price-per-acre paid, and is that consistent with the city's appraisal data?
- Are individual parcel acquisitions presented to the council for vote, or pre-authorized via the capital plan (the Watershed pattern)?
Same pattern as Watershed
The structural setup is the pattern we documented in the Watershed Fund slush fund investigation:
- Voters approve a dollar cap with a stated purpose (Watershed protection / Greenway acquisition)
- The 6-Year Capital Plan authorizes one annual line ("Watershed Acquisitions Annual" / "Greenway Land Acquisitions Annual")
- Individual parcel purchases are not on the council record — they're pre-authorized via the capital plan
If the same pattern applies to Greenways, the same governance questions should be asked.
Acceleration
The Greenways V levy started in 2024 and has already collected $28.76M in three years. The Greenway III levy ran for ~10 years (2013-2023) and collected $28.60M total. So Greenways V is collecting roughly 3.4× the per-year rate of Greenways III.
Where to look next
- How much of the $57M Greenway inflow has been spent (total)?
- What is the breakdown of spending by category (land vs. trails vs. operations)?
- What is the reserve / unspent balance in Fund 173 at the end of each fiscal year?
- Is the capital plan's "Greenway Land Acquisitions Annual" line growing in step with the levy?
Connected on Real Record
Public records requests to file
- All Bellingham City Council ordinances/resolutions authorizing Greenway land acquisitions, 2014-2025 — same documents we asked for on Watershed.
- Greenway acquisition plan or priority list — if one exists.
- Appraisal reports for all Greenway acquisitions — proves market-value pricing.
- Maps of Greenway-acquired properties 2014-2025.
- Fund 173 multi-year revenue + spending detail — the same level of detail we have for Fund 411.
Discussed in meetings
Methodology & sources
Levy revenue figures from tax_district_levies (Whatcom County Annual Tax Books). Fund routing is the city's official Chart of Accounts. Comparison to the Watershed pattern is by analogy of authorization structure (one capital-plan line, no individual-parcel council vote in the records we have searched).