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<< Previous   of   Next >> Mark Mulligan / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Elliot Denker, 17, a student at Snohomish High School, shelves books at the Snohomish Library earlier this year. A levy for Sno-Isle Libraries was narrowly leading on election night.   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Tim Eyman loses this time around, but is unlikely to go away 11/5/09 • GOP beats only rural Eastern Washington Democrat legislator 11/5/09 • McGinn’s lead shrinks in Seattle mayor race 11/5/09 • Three County Council incumbents retain lead 11/5/09 • Library tax holds slim approval 11/5/09 • Marysville council candidate arrested after hit-and-run 11/5/09 » More ELECTIONRESULTS2009 stories >   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 Library levy winning by 51% to 49% The tax increase would help reduce cuts in services and hours. By Eric Stevick Herald Writer If Tuesday night election results hold up, Sno-Isle Libraries won’t have to cut hours next year. Sno-Isle Libraries Prop. 1, which would increase the library district’s levy rate by 9 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, was narrowly leading in the all-mail ballot. Tuesday’s count was 45,733 to 43,675, a 51 percent to 49 percent margin. It needs 50 percent plus one vote to pass and thousands of more ballots are yet to be counted. The close early results “mean we’ll have to wait” to know if the measure passes, said Mary Kelly, a library system spokeswoman. “It is probably too close to be able to call,” Kelly said. “It’s better than being on the other side of the 50 percent.” If the ballot proposal passes, the tax rate for the libraries would jump from 31 cents to 40 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. Sno-Isle includes 21 libraries and 491 full- and part-time workers. It has a $38 million budget, including reserves, and checked out 8.4 million items in 2008. The owner of a $300,000 home would pay an extra $27 a year under the ballot proposal. If the levy fails, library officials say they will have to reduce spending by $2.5 million in 2010, which also would mean reducing libraries’ hours and further cuts to purchases of books and materials. Tom Balt, a rural Snohomish resident who voted against the library levy, said he believes the outcome would be even closer if there had been an opposing view in the voters’ pamphlet. “It certainly may have had an influence on some voters,” he said. “When you have a one-sided presentation, it skews the position.” Kelly said the library district sought a committee to oppose the measure through press releases sent out to newspapers, announcements posted in libraries and on its Web site. A series of public meetings and more than 1,000 Web surveys last spring convinced library leaders to trim spending by more than $1 million to reduce the amount they would ask from taxpayers. Reductions approved for 2010 include a 3 percent salary cut for the top six highest-paid Sno-Isle employees and three other senior staff members. There also will be a salary freeze for all other employees as well as cuts in spending on materials and equipment. In addition, improvements to the libraries’ computer system have been delayed until 2011. Some vacant positions will not be filled. The district would make equitable reductions in hours across the system, but trim hours at each site to different times based on usage patterns, officials said. A levy increase would allow Sno-Isle to rebuild its reserves and provide money to maintain current library services for five years, library officials said. Sno-Isle Libraries passed a similar levy lid lift during a 2003 election, and set aside money in reserve funds. That measure passed with a 52 percent yes vote. The 2003 ballot measure increased the levy amount from 46 cents to its maximum legal limit of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That rate steadily dropped over the next five years to 31 cents per $1,000 this year as property values increased. Tuesday’s library measure appeared on ballots in most Snohomish and Island county communities. Exceptions were Everett and Woodway, which are not part of the Sno-Isle system. Langley and Stanwood contract for Sno-Isle library services but are not annexed into the system and therefore did not vote. Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out Money Poorly Spent If this passes, it's tantamount to flushing taxpayer dollars straight down the crapper. I recently tried to donate a brand new multi-media language learning program to the Sno-Isle Library system. It's considered to be top-of-the-line for this language. It contains four CD's and a textbook. The library just recently got rid of its sole multi-media item for this language because it was so old that the cassette tapes were broken, so this would have been a worthy addition. This item retails for $50, which would equate to several years' worth of new levy dollars for me. Do you know what they told me? They turned down the offer because apparently it's simply too much hassle for them to create a new record in their database for this item. If they already owned it, they'd be happy to take the item onto the shelves because that means they wouldn't have to go to the earth-shatteringly difficult hassle of creating a new card for the catalog. You can't make this stuff up. They gave me a "talk to the hand" at my offer of a free, brand-new, shrink-wrapped package that would fill a gap on the shelves, because they can't be bothered to create a record. If this is any indicator of how the library system acts when presented with a gift-horse, can you imagine how they'll be spending all this new money -- which you will have no choice but to fork over? I only wish the Herald had publicized my experience before vote-time, but regrettably they elected not to publish my letter to the editor regarding this matter. Jacques Klahaya | Nov 4, 2009 12:47 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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