In 2002, Louisville voters approved a 0.375% sales and use tax increase to create a dedicated funding source for the maintenance of parks, trails, open space, and land acquisition. In 2012, voters approved an extension of this tax for another ten years. The tax in its current form will expire at the end of 2023.

The tax, equal to 3.75 cents on every $10 spent, generates approximately about $2.85 million per year and is the primary funding source for Open Space and Parks operations. The entire fund balance for the Open Space and Parks Fund is restricted by voters for the acquisition, development, and operation of open space, trails, wildlife habitats, wetlands, and parks. The funds are distributed across all aspects of Open Space and Parks including staffing, maintenance, purchasing, service agreements, land acquisition reserves, capital projects, volunteer programs, educational events, and more.

The Open Space and Parks Sales and Use Tax revenues currently funds the following programs:

• Natural Resource Management to sustainably manage land, plants, animals, water, and soil to protect for future generations.
• Prudent and innovative stewardship of organisms, ecosystems, and property amenities
• Inventory and monitoring of resources to know quantitative and qualitative status of resources to effectively manage, measure vitality or decline in status, develop plans based on research as well as collected and observed data
• Lead the Wildfire Hazard & Risk Assessment of Louisville Public Lands to help manage wildland fuels to reduce the impact of potential future wildfires
• Promote healthy functioning native ecosystems to increase nutrient cycling, increase soil microbial diversity, increase soil water holding capacity, reduce competition from invasive species, and promote increase of native species through effective treatments
• Contract management to develop and manage contracted projects which supplement Department objectives
• Conservation easements and riparian corridor restoration.

The City owns, or has interest in, approximately 2,000 acres of open space lands serving a variety of uses throughout 31 properties including,

• 649 acres (19 individual properties) of Open Space properties owned and maintained by the City of Louisville and
• 1,225 acres (12 individual properties) of Open Space properties jointly owned and maintained with Boulder County Open Space or Lafayette.
• The most recent acquisition was the Mayhoffer Farm Property, which was jointly purchased by Boulder County, Lafayette, and Louisville in 2017.  The 165-acre property forms a key part of the rural buffer zone between Lafayette and Louisville and is also locally significant for its history of coal mining and agriculture.

Louisville features approximately 32 miles of both soft and hard surface trails, 25 of which are exclusive to Open Space. These trails connect residents and visitors to open space, parks, and surrounding communities. Open Space staff is responsible for

• Construction of trails and regional trail connections, such as the 104^th street trail that was jointly constructed with the City of Lafayette, CDOT, and Boulder County.
• Trail maintenance and resurfacing
• Construction, repair, installation, and maintenance of all Open Space fencing and amenities
• Pruning and removal of hazardous trees, branches, and downed materials
• Repair and maintenance of Open Space parking lots
• Assisting parks staff with city snow removal efforts
• Managing and completing all Open Space contracts

The City of Louisville has a Senior Ranger Naturalist and Ranger Naturalist on staff who,

• Provide more than 600 miles of foot patrol and more than 128 miles of bike patrol each year
• Engage in more than 6,800 friendly public relations contacts with trail users and open space visitors
• Respond to more than 500 law enforcement or emergency response contacts.

  Open Space Education and Volunteer Events

• Open Space staff held 39 education and outreach programs in 2022 with over 588 attendees, not including program they provided for the Louisville Elementary School.
• In 2022, Staff provided 9 public volunteer events (5 weed control, 3 Marshall Fire, 1 Earth Day) and facilitated 4 private events.
• 280 individual (463 total attendees) participated in volunteer events and contributed 1,100.75 volunteer hours

There are a total of 37 parks in Louisville which include more than 350 acres of designated park land. In total, the Parks Division manages over 100 individual sites throughout the City. Parks staff is responsible for:

• Maintenance of 16 playgrounds, 7 basketball courts, 14 athletic fields, 11 tennis courts, 5 pickleball courts, 1 multipurpose in‐line skating rink, and the City skate park
• Playground repair and replacement including new playgrounds at Cottonwood Park, Heritage Park, Keith Helart Park, and Elephant Park
• Maintaining a 10,000-tree canopy by pruning, planting, and removing trees on public property
• Operation of the Tree Branch Recycle Site
• Maintaining landscaping in street medians and streetscapes
• ROW landscaping maintenance (including over 70 neighborhood entrance areas and over 10 miles of street ROW landscaping maintenance)
• Vegetation control including mowing and weed management
• Picnic shelter reservation customer service and shelter maintenance (over 1,000 reservations annually)
• Managing the City’s Adopt a Park Program and Memorial Bench & Tree Program
• Managing Louisville’s Horticulture program which cares for approximately 22 annual beds and 270 perennial and shrub beds throughout the City
• Managing funerals and interments at the Louisville Cemetery
• Maintaining the Community Park Dog Park and Davidson Mesa Dog Off-Leash Area
• Snow removal
• Maintaining national certifications and designations such as Bee City and Tree City USA
• Managing the Holiday Light Program