Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised state budget proposal allocates up to $125 million in climate bond funding for the purchase of Golden Gate Fields, a former horse racing track on the Berkeley-Albany waterfront.

In March, the nonprofit Trust for Public Land announced its plan to purchase Golden Gate Fields to transform the fields into a public park. The state’s allocation could cover a majority of the property’s $175 million purchase price, which includes demolition costs.

The East Bay Regional Park District committed $20 million in funding from Measure WW, “a bond measure that provides for the acquisition of new regional parklands,” to the purchase, according to Allison Brooks, the assistant general manager of the park district’s external affairs division.

“The vision and opportunity for Golden Gate Fields to transition into a waterfront park offers multiple benefits that greatly contribute to the Climate Bond’s goals of conserving land, advancing equity, and creating public access to the shoreline,” said Daniel Villaseñor, a California Natural Resources Agency spokesperson, in an email. “Many disadvantaged communities in the East Bay would have easy access to the site via the Bay Trail and I-80.”

The climate bond was passed by California voters in 2024 and authorizes up to $10 billion in bonds for environmental and climate work.

TOGETHER Bay Area, a regional coalition of conservation organizations, has expressed concern that the $125 million allocation would reduce climate bond funding available for other projects. Robert Cheasty, the executive director of Albany nonprofit Citizens for East Shore Parks, acknowledged that there is a tradeoff with any given action and said he does not think it’s worth the criticism.

“The thing to understand is that the small projects — and I’ve done many — the ones that require $500,000 here or $1 million, or $2 (million) or even $8 million, those are very important projects, but they’re not so difficult to fund,” Cheasty said. “Yes, they’re difficult — every project is difficult to fund — but it’s not so difficult to fund. But to put together a project like this which is $175 million, that’s almost impossible without major, major lifting and major backing.”

The city of Albany, which collects property tax revenue from Golden Gate Fields, also expressed financial concerns about the acquisition. The city’s website noted that if a tax-exempt entity acquired the track, Albany would not receive certain tax revenues from the property, which is used to fund city services. Trust for Public Land is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization.

TPL has the option to purchase the property until the end of 2026, according to Brooks. The state Legislature must pass a budget bill for the 2026-27 fiscal year by June 15.

“This acquisition is a once-in-a-century opportunity to repurpose a former horse racing track into an iconic shoreline park and recreational hub, which will restore nature and expand open space and Bayshore access for millions of Bay Area residents,” the budget proposal states.