Some Wary of Library Annexation Open House

Ahead of the March 10 open house hosted jointly by the city of Enumclaw and King County Library System (KCLS) to answer citizens' questions and present information on a proposed annexation of the city library into the KCLS system, the city's Library Board has issued its official recommendation for a vote against the annexation. 

The group, appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council to be responsible for the management and control of the city library, cites as follows: "While the Library Board has been diligent in its efforts to work with the City Council and administration in developing the right funding solution, it has been ignored and shut out of any and all work on this project. Sadly, the citizenry of Enumclaw has also been ignored and not included."

From the city's perspective, the conversation about how to properly fund the city library has been ongoing for the past two years, said city administrator Mike Thomas. In city budget discussions as far back as 2009, the city decided that the library is not a core service that receives priority funding. Consequently, a solution was needed in order to be able to provide a good library for Enumclaw residents, Thomas said.

The city in 2010 began discussions with KCLS which included the Library Board. "KCLS -- when a library annexes into them -- they ask the city to keep in place the library board," said Thomas. "There's a whole process where they reach out to the library board and use them to make some decisions and get them together to talk about budget and programming issues."

The Board, while receptive to its first meeting with KCLS representatives during an August 2010 meeting where they heard about how a potential annexation may proceed, had hoped for further internal discussions with the city and with fellow citizens before moving forward with KCLS.

They never got the chance to have those discussions, they said. 

Point by Point

According to a timeline of events provided by Library Board member Fred Fleischmann, Thomas had told board members during a meeting in September 2010 that there was no definitive decision regarding annexation at that point. The Board came away from the meeting under the impression that the city would explore both annexation and a levy lid lift equally as possible options for future funding of the library.

The City Council in its Sept. 27, 2010 meeting passed a resolution that formally allowed for the city to begin annexation discussions with KCLS. According to that meeting's minutes, the action did not bind the city to annexation but would be a first step in getting questions and issues answered. At that same meeting, however, the Fleischmann's timeline indicates that an amendent was made to that resolution that removed the Library board from any involvement in future discussions.

The meeting's minutes indicate that indeed Councilman Sean Krebs moved to amend the resolution striking the phrase, "in collaboration with members of the Library Board and the Community Services Committee."

The move, while seemingly hostile when taken out of text, was purely procedural, said Krebs, who was the lone council member during Council's Jan. 24 meeting to heed pleas from residents to hold off on annexation, moving forward with the April 26 election; he was concerned that a final transfer agreement was not ready. "Whenever we go into an interlocal agreement, it's between our City Council and whoever the agreement is with," he said. "We still obviously take input regarding matters. It was poorly placed inside the resolution and from my opinion, just a matter of cleaning it up."

Fleischmann's timeline also noted that throughout the fall, Board had asked city administration for more information about the other funding alternative, a city levy lid lift, but they had not received a response.

Thomas indicated that this option was presented to City Council but before any specific details could be shared, Council itself needed to make several decisions regarding levies in general. For example, he said, Council last year had informally discussed lowering the city levy after the annexation of the city's fire department into Fire District 28 last year, but no actions have yet to be taken. 

Any action there would impact how a levy lid lift might be set up to support the library. "We've talked about the levy on a number of occasions with Council," Thomas said. "Decisions needed to be made but the Council didn't want to go there."

Council's reluctance was illustrated at the looking into funding solutions for the library. According to minutes from that meeting, Thomas had presented an option to redirect city funding saved from fire and moving it to the library. Councilman Mike Ennis had countered this suggestion, stating the fund should remain separate from the library because any city levy adjustments due to the fire annexation had not yet been acted upon, and he did not want for what would appear to be a tax increase to come about without voters approving it beforehand. Others agreed. Consequently, the option of a levy adjustment was off the table, according to the minutes, and Council decided in a 5-1 vote at its Jan. 24 meeting that it was best to put the annexation question to voters.

Is the Open House Really Open?

Fleischmann worries that the March 10 open house will simply serve as an opportunity for KCLS to offer its "sales pitch" to residents. "It'll be a one-way communication, which I think is terrible," he said.

Thomas indicated the city will not be putting the levy adjustment option out during the open house, though they will answer all questions from the audience. "We'll do our best to get information out to folks," he said. "We'll show historic costs and the costs of maintaining the library by the city versus KCSL." 

Some basic numbers in those regards have been released. According to Thomas, residents would see an increase in county property taxes in line with an assessment of 50 cents per $1,000 with the annexation. That means that the owner of a home with an assessed value of $300,000 would pay $150 a year.

At January's workshop, he estimated a levy adjustment would have meant an increase of about 62 cents per $1,000 assessed property value -- more than the KCLS estimate. The owner of a $300,000 home would pay $186 a year.

The comparison between a city levy and county levy isn't comparing apples and apples, however. In the city, "we spend general fund dollars on the library. The city doesn't have a library levy." 

Process Versus Perception

While each member of the Library Board has their own opinion on the issue, not everyone is necessarily against annexation, said member Charles Sansone.

"I'm not against change," he said, "but I want my change done with deliberation."

It is the process through which the city has pursued annexation that bothers him. Sansone compares the time and consideration the City Council has put into plans for and laments that it did not give the library the same attention. "I wish that there had been a careful study of the whole situation. It needs to slow down and we need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages. I don't think they have given it the same thought as they have to the fairgrounds. The library and readers are entitled to the same kind of treatment. Any topic that affects that many people warrants full, open discussion."

Krebs has been cognizant of opinions such as Sansone's and shares his concerns as well. He was vocal in not supporting proceeding with the April 26 election because an intact interlocal agreement was not yet in place. "In my opinion, it's not the way things are done. With boards and commissions, once you get to the interlocal agreement part, you're done. If the interlocal agreement comes to us at a Council meeting, I'd feel we'd need to stop the process and make sure we had input from the library board. It becomes unwieldy. ... We went into it right away, not understanding what the whole transition means. We put it right to the people, but we don't have any idea. The staff could be lost, the facility to be moved outside city limits. Everyone else was comfortable with it but I wasn't -- an interlocal agreement should always be done ahead of time. ... At this point, the process has been completely improper. I don't believe this has gone through any appropriate public process. One public meeting is not enough."

It's a matter of perspective, Thomas countered. The City Council did not want to pursue levy adjustments as an alternative, but the fact is the city library needs to have a viable funding source to continue to provide services to residents. 

In January's workshop dedicated to examining library funding options, Thomas said that funding this year from the city's general fund sits at $389,770; in 2008, it was $631,000. To be in a healthy range, the library funding needed to be in the $600,000 range.

Already battling an insufficient budget, the library is making due without a book budget this year, according to Library Director Robert Baer, who has declined to comment further on the annexation or its impact on staff.

Though it did not have to eliminate positions for 2011, the library did not replace a position in its Children's Services Department that was . The need to spread existing staff around to meet continued demands meant hours were cut. The library now opens 30 minutes later in the morning and closes at 5 p.m. on Wednesdays. It is closed Fridays.

The city pursued annexation because the services that KCLS could provide Enumclaw residents are of value, he said. It's pushing for the April 26 ballot because should the measure be approved, KCLS would be able to set its levy for 2012 and transfer of services could begin as early as May of this year, once election results have been certified.

With budget woes forecasted to continue through 2012, the city needed to quickly find a solution.

Or go with the status quo, as Ennis had offered during January's workshop. 

Sansone wouldn't have minded that route. "We could struggle through another year. I'm in favor of struggling through another year in order to have a thorough study and good public feedback."

In hardships, people often band together, he said, citing gifts the library has already received from the community. Generous acts give people a sense of commitment, and that could only help the library. "I have an interest in that place and I want to be a part of it. You've got to give something to earn something."

What's Up in the Air

At the last Library Board meeting, there was concern over what would happen to existing library staff; questions were also raised about important library assets including two dedicated funds as well as the library's special collection.

According to Thomas, KCLS is currently interviewing city staff in an attempt to best align current city positions with analogous positions within the county system. Benefits are also being determined. Final decisions have yet to be made but KCLS is working toward taking all staff in Enumclaw into their employment.

Within the county system, he said, employees would be a part of a cluster, determined by geographic region; so while an Enumclaw employee may work in Auburn, they would not be repositioned to a northern King County city like Kirkland. 

The city's Scholtfeldt and the Lafromboise funds are currently being worked on through the city's legal department.

At January's workshop, Thomas indicated that the city's art and special collections would remain under city ownership.

KCLS also intends to retain the Library Board. "The board doesn't go away just because of annexation," he said.

Coming Up

The city and KCLS will host an open house on Thursday, March 10 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Thunder Mountain Middle School to answer questions and present information for the public on the proposed annexation.

The special election is set for April 26.