This November, the voters of Washington will have the opportunity to vote on yet another Tim Eyman initiative. While previous initiatives from Mr. Eyman have directed their assault on state government expenditures, Initiative 747 directs an assault at the quality and availability of locally based services – public libraries, schools, hospitals, fire departments and ambulance services, county and city governments. We need to defeat I- 747 in the November election.
Take, for example, the impact of I-747 on our public libraries. Public libraries, which have extensive hours of operation, employ a small but well-qualified staff and offer a large selection of books and magazines, enhance the quality of life in our communities. I-747 will threaten the quality and availability of public library services and thereby cause the quality of life to deteriorate in our local communities.
In Snohomish County, we rely on branch libraries of the Sno-Isle Library system, which receives just over $20 million a year in property tax revenues. Over $600,000 came to the Monroe Public Library in my community in 1999. Larger libraries in Mukilteo and Lynnwood rely on Sno-Isle funds of $1 million to $2 million each year. These revenues constitute 97 percent of the operating funds which support our libraries.
If I-747 passes, the initiative would cut property tax revenues available to Sno-Isle Libraries by more than $720,000 in 2002. In 2006, that reduction will amount to more than $2.6 million. The Sno-Isle libraries, which operate throughout Snohomish County, would have to absorb this loss by restricting hours of operation, decreasing the quality of their service or both.
The promoters of I-747 left an option for organizations like Sno-Isle Libraries which might need more than an increase of 1 percent per year – they can call for an election to ask the voters for permission to spend, say, 3 percent more than the previous year. If the Sno-Isle libraries held a special election alone to ask for such an increase, the cost of that election would be $350,000 to $400,000.
Those of us who care about the quality of our communities, in general, and the quality of our public libraries, in particular, need to defeat I- 747 in November.
Monroe
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