The Livermore Area Recreation and Park District wants out of a 1992 tax-sharing agreement with the East Bay Regional Park District, and it has filed a lawsuit with the Alameda County Superior Court to do that.
For 33 years, the LARPD agreed to share a portion of its property tax revenues with the East Bay park district, and EBRPD would use it to acquire and develop “additional” and “future” regional parks, open spaces, and trails within the Murray Township. The Murray Township, originally established in 1853, once encompassed most of Livermore Valley. Today, it spans the eastern portion of Alameda County, including the Livermore park district and the city of Livermore.
Mathew Fuzie, general manager of the Livermore park district, alleges that since the agreement began, EBRPD has collected approximately $110 million from Livermore-area taxpayers, but less than 20% of these funds have been used in ways that are consistent with the agreement, with a large portion spent on projects outside of his district’s boundaries.
“Over the past several years, LARPD has made repeated efforts to update and clarify the agreement, but no resolution has been reached,” Fuzie said.
East Bay park district spokesperson Jordan Traverso said the tax allocation from Murray Township is in line with what they receive from other areas in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. She said the Livermore district is involved in all master planning within Murray Township.
“Over the past several years, LARPD has made repeated efforts to update and clarify the agreement, but no resolution has been reached.”
Mathew Fuzie, LARPD general manager
“From 1998 to 2023, EBRPD received approximately $104.4 million in property tax revenues from this area but spent over $124 million in direct and indirect costs,” Traverso said. She added that the Livermore district recently canceled a meeting at the last minute.
In the lawsuit, LARPD also argues that the tax-sharing agreement was a mutual mistake, because the district did not realize the impact of a 1992 state law that drew more taxes into the state general fund. That law created an Education Revenue Augmentation Fund, which redirected a portion of property taxes statewide from cities, counties and special districts to local school and community college districts.
From that year forward, approximately one-third of the Livermore special district’s total allocation of property tax dollars goes to EBRPD, the suit said, and 37% goes to the state education fund. As a result, the Livermore district revenues decreased, while EBRPD continued to receive its full payment.
The Livermore Park district encompasses most of the eastern half of Alameda County, a 243.5-square-mile area bounded by Contra Costa County to the north, San Joaquin County to the east, Santa Clara County to the south, and the cities of Pleasanton and Dublin to the west.
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