About the Regional Park and Open Space District

Our existence originates from the efforts of state legislators who wanted to promote and protect parks and open space throughout California.

Since its inception in 1992, the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District has awarded more than $1.5 billion in grants to cities, County departments, state and local agencies and community-based organizations for projects to improve and rehabilitate our parks, recreational facilities, trails, and open space lands.

At a Glance

OUR MISSION: “To enrich and empower the communities of Los Angeles County through innovative grantmaking for parks and open space.”

We all need parks and open spaces – they have significant impacts on the everyday lives of residents and provide valuable spaces and opportunities for active and passive recreation, social engagement, and community connectivity. The Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District (also commonly referred to as “RPOSD” or “the District”), was established to promote and protect the over 4,000 square miles of park and open spaces, including thousands of parks, recreation and community centers, beaches, senior centers, arboreta and botanic gardens and wildlife lands, in Los Angeles County for the enjoyment of residents and visitors.
Since its formation, the District has awarded more than $1.5 billion in grants, which have been used for hundreds of projects in the community including the development and maintenance of walking, biking and hiking trails, senior centers, tree planting programs, playground and fitness equipment as well as the restoration of our rivers, streams and beaches. Grants have helped our local governments acquire and preserve open spaces such as the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains. Funding has been provided to the Griffith Park, the Hollywood Bowl, the Elephants of Asia Exhibit at the LA Zoo, the Rose Garden at the South Coast Botanic Garden, and regional centers, including the Castaic Regional Sports Complex Olympic Pool and the Stoneview Nature Center, along with hundreds of neighborhood parks across the 88 cities and the many unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. 
Do you want to know how to tell when an open space, recreation, trail or park project had been awarded a RPOSD grant funded by Proposition A or Measure A tax dollars? All grantees are required to acknowledge the support of RPOSD by utilizing our brand elements, which you can learn more about by reading the Branding Guidelines.
RPOSD grants have and will continue to make life better in Los Angeles County by building stronger and safer neighborhoods, enriching recreational experiences, advocating equitable access to parks and open spaces, and preserving our natural spaces for this and future generations. By empowering initiatives that create, maintain, and improve our open spaces, RPOSD helps ensure that everyone in the Los Angeles County Region benefits from all that parks have to offer. This is all possible thanks to the support from the people of Los Angeles County.
Continue exploring OUR TIMELINE to learn more about how our past has shaped who we are today and what our vision holds for the future.

Cool Timeline

2022
Technical Assistance Funding Allocated to High and Very High Park-Need Areas in Los Angeles County
Technical Assistance Funding Allocated to High and Very High Park-Need Areas in Los Angeles County

On July 14, 2022, RPOSD announced the allocation of over $9 million in Measure A funds to 30 Los Angeles County cities and unincorporated communities with the highest park needs for technical assistance services.  The funding aims to stimulate park projects that will add new parkland in areas with significantly less park acreage than the Los Angeles County average, per…
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1st RPOSD Funding Released for Recreation Programs in Parks and Open Spaces
1st RPOSD Funding Released for Recreation Programs in Parks and Open Spaces

Whereas RPOSD had established decades long history of granting funds towards capital projects that promote, preserve, and protect parks and open space, this particular date marks the first cycle of grants ever released by the District that will award funding for the expansion and creation of new recreation programs - a first from RPOSD in almost 30 years of grantmaking.…
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First Award of Measure A Competitive Grants
2021 Competitive Grant Awards

In April 2021, RPOSD released a solicitation for the Measure A Competitive Grant Programs, starting with Capital Projects. It marked the first-ever opening of the following competitive grants programs: Natural Lands, Local Beaches, Water Conservation and Protection Regional Recreation Facilities, Multi-use Trails and Accessibility Acquisition-Only RPOSD hosted workshops, sent email blasts, and ran a social media campaign to spread the…
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2020
1st Measure A Citizens Oversight Advisory Board Meeting
1st Measure A Citizens Oversight Advisory Board Meeting

On January 8, 2020 at 10:00 a.m., the Measure A Citizen Oversight Advisory Board (Advisory Board) held its first meeting. The formation and operation Advisory Board was a mandate of Measure A under Section 7: Community Oversight and Accountability. The Advisory Board provides outside accountability for the use of Measure A funds, ensuring that expenditures are being allocated and expended…
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2019
First Roll Out of Measure A – Annual Allocation Grants
First Roll Out of Measure A – Annual Allocation Grants

Annual Allocation grant programs use a formula to provide funds to identified public agencies on an annual basis. Agencies receiving annual allocation funds have several options for how they use their annual allocation, including expend, accrue, bond, and share/transfer. Measure A includes six annual allocation programs: Community-Based Park Investment Program; Neighborhood Parks, Healthy Communities, & Urban Greening Program; Allocation to…
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Litigation Resolves in RPOSD’s Favor – Development of All Measure A Grant Programs Resumes
Litigation Resolves in RPOSD’s Favor – Development of All Measure A Grant Programs Resumes

In the Spring of 2019, the litigation against Measure A was resolved in RPOSD's favor. The District proceeded to take steps to prepare for the official approval from the Board of Supervisors, acting as RPOSD's governing Board of Directors, to release the rest of Measure A funds, and to develop the application guidelines for the first roll out of competitive…
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The Board Approves Grants Administration Manual for Measure A
The Board Approves Grants Administration Manual for Measure A

In March 2019, Measure A’s Grants Administration Manual (GAM), the final document outlining grant guidelines and policies, was approved by the Board of Supervisors, acting in their capacity as RPOSD’s governing body. The policies and guidelines outlined by the GAM balance the legislative requirements of Measure A, best practices from the grantmaking community, as well as robust input from the…
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2018
Adoption of Policies & Procedures for Expending Measure A Funds
Adoption of Policies & Procedures for Expending Measure A Funds

Pending the resolution of the litigation, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors authorized the release of Measure A annual allocation funds in June 2018, including those for the Community-based Park Investment Grant Program, the Neighborhood Parks, Healthy Communities & Urban Greening Grant Program, and Maintenance & Servicing Funding Program. The implementation of Measure A allowed the 88 cities in…
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2017
Steering Committee Starts Discussion on Measure A Implementation
Steering Committee Starts Discussion on Measure A Implementation

The Measure A Implementation Steering Committee (Steering Committee) was created as an advisory group to provide guidance and make recommendations at key steps of the implementation process. The group first convened in April 2017 and met 14 times, concluding in June 2018. The Steering Committee consisted of 46 members with expertise in parks, recreation, and open space as well as…
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Measure A Direct Assessment Undergoes Litigation
Measure A Direct Assessment Informational Pamphlet

In January 2017, a lawsuit was filed against Measure A regarding its direct assessment approach, causing delay in its development and implementation. The prosecutor claimed that Measure A does not tax uniformly and that the assessment approach was unfair. The Court ruled in favor of RPOSD and Measure A in July, but an appeal was filed three months later. Previous…
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2016
Measure A Passes!
Measure A Passes!

Measure A passed by an overwhelming majority of Los Angeles County voters. At 74.9%, the approval rate greatly surpassed the supermajority requirement. With the passage of Measure A, voters of Los Angeles County chose to continue their support for local parks, beaches, open space, and water resources by approving an annual parcel tax of 1.5 cents per square foot of…
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Introducing Measure A
Introducing Measure A

The outcome of Proposition P and results of the comprehensive Parks Needs Assessment (PNA) led to the draft of the Safe, Clean Neighborhood Park, Open Space, Beaches, River Protection, and Water Conservation Measure of 2016 (Measure A Resolution). The goal of Measure A was to replace the expiring Proposition A to ensure that parks, open spaces, beaches, and waterways were…
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2015
County Conducts Neighborhood Parks Need Assessment
County Conducts Neighborhood Parks Need Assessment

As Proposition A's term end date approached, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (BOS) anticipated the loss of Proposition A funding and placed Proposition P – Safe Neighborhood Parks Tax Measure on the ballot for the November 2014 general election. Proposition P would have authorized Los Angeles County and the District to levy, for 30 years, a special parcel…
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1996
Proposition A Expands Due to New State Legislation
Proposition A Expands Due to New State Legislation

The passage of a new state legislation related to benefit assessments led to necessary adjustments for Proposition A, providing an opportunity to get secure additional funding. The Safe Neighborhood Parks Proposition of 1996, Proposition A (Proposition A 1996) was approved by Los Angeles County voters on November 5, 1996, providing a second assessment for RPOSD with a term of 22…
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1992
District Officially Voted Into Existence
District Officially Voted Into Existence

On November 3, 1992, 64% of the voters approved Proposition A, successfully establishing: The Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District (RPOSD) as a special district whose boundary is coterminous with the Los Angeles County boundary; This same geographic area of RPOSD as the benefit assessment district area; The Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles…
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Los Angeles County Moves Forward with Proposition A
Los Angeles County Moves Forward with Proposition A

Pursuant to the state legislation passed in the prior year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted an order, Proposition A - the Safe Neighborhood Parks Act, that called for the formation of the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District (commonly abbreviated as RPOSD or referred to as the District) and for the District to be…
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1991
It All Starts With State Legislation
It All Starts With State Legislation

In 1991, California Legislators passed the Regional Park, Park and Open-Space, and Open-Space Districts Legislation (Public Resources Code, Section 5506.9) to promote and protect parks and open space throughout the state by delegating the responsibility to their respective regional districts. In Los Angeles County, the Board of Supervisors were appointed to act, ex officio, as the governing body of the…
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