I support the shoreline park, full stop.
For decades, Albany has wondered what would finally become of our waterfront. Now we know, and the answer is a beautiful one. Horse racing ended in 2024, and the Trust for Public Land has secured an option to buy the racetrack property. The state has committed $125 million from the climate bond voters passed in 2024, and the land is headed to the East Bay Regional Park District, the people who run the shoreline parks we already love. When it all closes as planned, Albany gets miles of restored waterfront at our front door. It will be incredible.
The challenge is financial. Golden Gate Fields is Albany's largest private property and contributes to many of the taxes that support city services. Once the land becomes publicly owned and tax exempt, the city expects to lose roughly $1.3 million a year, including about 20 percent of the paramedic fund, about 22 percent of the street and storm drain fund, and $100,000 for our library. Albany Unified could lose another $700,000 a year. For a city and school district our size, those are significant numbers.
One thing worth understanding: the $125 million the state has committed is climate bond money. It buys land and builds parks, but it doesn't replace a city's lost revenue. Our legislators, Senator Jesse Arreguín and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, have championed the purchase, and Albany's city leadership has backed it.
Albany isn't the buyer or seller, but we have an enormous stake in the outcome. My commitment is simple: Albany gets made whole. I want the city working closely with the state, the Park District and other regional and nonprofit partners to get there. The City Council is also looking at how some of our existing revenue measures may need to change. I don't think we should decide today that there's only one answer. I do think Albany needs to be at the table throughout the process.
And I want Albany at every table where this is decided. When the acquisition closes, the Park District will own the land, and the majority of the property sits within Albany's city limits. This is very much part of our city. The public planning process will unfold over several years. After acquisition, the Park District plans to lead a public engagement process in partnership with Albany and Berkeley so residents can hear the plans directly and help shape what comes next. I'll show up for that work, and I'll keep insisting that Albany's fiscal recovery is treated as part of the project, not an afterthought.