Kingsville library seeking levy increase

Mar. 13—Voters will decide the fate of a proposed renewal and increase to the Kingsville Public Library's levy on Tuesday.

Mariana Branch, director of the Kingsville Public Library, said library staff recently completed three-year financial projections, which found the library would be in the red in 2025.

"So the levy is super important," she said.

Branch said when the library renews a levy, the renewal uses home values for when the levy was first approved.

"For example, this levy was run in 2004, so these are the tax valuations from 20 years ago," she said. "As things have gotten more expensive, just like everyone has more expenses at home, we also have seen an increase in expenses, from material purchases, utilities, maintenance of the building, delivery of our materials."

The proposed levy is a 2.5-mill, 10-year renewal and increase, and is less than the 3-mill proposal voters rejected in November. The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 house $87.50 per year, and would generate $315,000 per year.

"We understand that this is a big ask for people," Branch said. "But our services also are utilized every day, and we are busier every day than we were pre-COVID."

The library's usage of materials and number of people served have both increased compared to pre-COVID numbers.

Library leadership is working to save money for improvements to the library.

"A lot of people don't realize that many of the programs that we offer are all grant-driven, and we can't always depend on grants to make these programs happen," Branch said.

In addition to grants for a technology trainer and IT person, Branch said the library has received a $30,000 grant for an after-school tutoring program.

"Once those funds run out this year, we're going to have to figure out how do we have a sustainable after-school program for the kids who really, really benefit from this, without having a grant to rely on," she said.

Branch said she will continue pursuing grants, but the library cannot rely on always receiving them. She said the library also applied for funds through the state's one-time strategic community investment fund.

"We're always trying to relieve that burden from our taxpayers," she said.

The library faces a pair of significant challenges.

Firstly, the library uses a septic system.

"When we had thought to make an expansion, we were not able to do that after we received the EPA inspection," Branch said. "We don't have the land here to put in a whole new septic system."

She said library leadership is hoping a project to bring sewers to the Interstate 90/Route 193 interchange will be funded, but the library will need $300,000 to tie into that project.

The second major challenge is space.

"In square feet, I believe we're the smallest physical library building," Branch said. "Now, we have the Simak Welcome Center, but that building, it's not accessible to the public."

A stairway is directly inside the door of the welcome center. She said the library staff considered a number of potential options to make the building more accessible, including a ramp and a lift of some sort.

"None of those worked out, and so the next option would be to put a $100,000 investment into that building, but it still wouldn't fix all the issues we have with the building," Branch said.

Branch said she is asking the community for their continued support.

"We're very fiscally minded, we're writing grants all the time, but that can't sustain us forever," she said. "And our costs have increased for operational costs as well."