On Tuesday, the City of Redmond will hold its second of two community open-house gatherings regarding a potential levy and the public is invited to attend.

The open house will be from 6-7:15 p.m. in the lobby of Redmond City Hall, 15670 N.E. 85th St.

The focus of the open house will be gathering public feedback on additional resources needed for public safety, city infrastructure and a greener Redmond.

Jane Christenson, deputy city administrator for the city, said during the city’s budgeting process in the summer of 2014, feedback from the community emphasized the importance of these three priorities.

According to a press release from the city, the public input gained at the open house will be used to develop priorities for a potential levy that may take place later this year. Attendees will be asked to rate various priorities while calculating implications to their individual annual property taxes.

Input received at the open houses — the first of which was held earlier this week — and online will form recommendations that will be presented to City Council at the Feb. 17 meeting.

In addition to providing more resources to the three priorities, Christenson said the potential levy would also be the city’s opportunity to update the permanent levy that was passed in 2007, which the city hasn’t been able to increase by more than one percent per year. As a result, Christenson said the 2007 measure — which has helped to pay for school resource officers (SROs), staff at Fire Station 17, after-school activities at Redmond parks and park maintenance programs — has not been able to keep up with inflation. If this new proposed levy is put on the ballot and passed, it would address this.

Christenson said she is not sure when the potential levy would be put on the ballot this year as it would depend on what council decides. But she said it would go into effect beginning 2016 and run through the end of 2021.

Specifics about the potential levy are still to be determined, but Christenson said it would cost taxpayers about $0.35-0.40 per $1,000 assessed value of a home — averaging to about $15 per month. The total cost of the levy would cost the community a total of about $5 million per year.

If a levy is passed, Christenson said some of the things it could address when it comes to public safety include continuing support for SROs and firefighters, adding police to deal with property crimes and investigations. For infrastructure, she said the levy could address issues such as maintaining pavements at current levels, adding and maintaining safe pedestrian crossings, replacing broken and missing sidewalks and repairing bridges. To address a greener Redmond, Christenson said the levy funds could pay for things such as restoring park service levels, investing in neighborhood parks — especially in southeast, west and northeast Redmond.

Christenson said the goal of the open houses is to learn what people think about the city’s suggestions as well as see if community members have other ideas for what the levy could pay for.

“We want to know what people think so we can share that information with elected officials so they can make the best decision to advance the priorities the community say they value,” she said.

Jermaine Allgood, who has lived in Redmond with his family for five years, attended Tuesday’s open house with his family.

“We’re always going out to support and find out what’s going on in the community,” he said about why they attended.

Allgood and his family enjoy spending time outdoors so he was happy to see the emphasis on parks, adding that one of his daughters is part of the Farrel-McWhirter Riding School at the park of the same name.

He said he also likes that the city is looking to invest in public safety and the police, as Allgood has always had positive interactions with the police.

One thing Allgood said he would like to see is more crosswalks that light up to indicate when someone is crossing.

Angela Birney also attended Tuesday’s open house. She said as a longtime (17 years) Redmond resident, she went because she wanted to provide her input on the direction of the proposed levy. In addition, as vice chair of the city’s Parks and Trails Commission, she knew she could act as a resource for people who may have had any questions on the topic.

Birney added that she spoke to Redmond Fire Chief Tommy Smith at the open house and realized that with how much Redmond is growing, there will need to be more fire personnel to accommodate and maintain things at the same service level as things are now. Birney said she understands the proposed levy for this year would not fund this, but realizes the issue will need to be addressed in the future.

For more information and to share your thoughts on potential levy items, visit www.redmond.gov/levy. For questions, contact Lisa Rhodes, communications manager, at larhodes@redmond.gov or (425) 556-2427.