The city of Mill Creek and Sno-Isle Libraries Board of Trustees have negotiated an annexation agreement that calls for establishing a Mill Creek Library reserve fund if the Mill Creek voters decide to annex to the library district on Sept. 14.
If a majority of residents approve library annexation, they will be taxed directly for library services beginning in 2006. Currently, the city of Mill Creek contracts for library service and pays for the service out of its general fund. The city will shift the money earmarked for the library contract to maintain other city services if voters approve the change.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sno-Isle Libraries agrees to pay over a three-year period $350,000 into a library building reserve fund. The funds will be dedicated to paying for maintenance, furnishings, equipment, and improvements within the Mill Creek Library. The city of Mill Creek and Sno-Isle will work together to identify and oversee maintenance and renovation needs.
“Establishing a building reserve fund enables the library district to partner with the city financially in ensuring a library building that meets the needs of the people who use it,” library director Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory said in a prepared statement.
If Mill Creek residents approve annexation on Sept. 14, they will be assessed the same levy rate for library service as residents of unincorporated Snohomish County. In 2004, that levy rate is 50 cents per $1,000 assessed property value. The owner of a $300,000 home, for example, would pay $150 a year for library service. The city of Mill Creek is paying approximately $500,000 this year for library service.
Decisions as to the operation of the library building itself will continue to be made at the local level, with a locally-appointed library board working with the City Council.
Twelve communities are currently annexed to the Sno-Isle Library District: Arlington, Brier, Edmonds, Gold Bar, Granite Falls, Marysville, Monroe, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, Oak Harbor, and Snohomish.
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