City looks at library district option to boost services

City Council Tuesday night reviewed the costs of expanding services at the Longmont Public Library delivered as part of a long-awaited feasibility study of the underfunded facility.

The study by Sieger Consultants developed, evaluated and compared four sustainable future operating models for the library.. The first two options  —  including the formation of a library district —  would keep operations nearly as is.

The study says the final two “preferred level of service options” —  which also includes an autonomous library —  would boost funding from a current level of over $4 million to $6.8 million and $7.1 million respectively. Both would require a boost in local property taxes. 

Option three —  a bulked up municipal library —  “optimizes the operating model while providing the preferred level of service desired by Longmont residents for a modern, responsive 21st century library,” the consultants stated. The Longmont Public Library Board also believes the community supports achieving the preferred level of service in option three and option four, which would be an expanded library district, the consultants said.

A mill rate of slightly over 1.65 mills per $1,000 assessed value —  about $57.39 on a $500,000 home —  would provide that additional resources needed to achieve the preferred level of services for a much improved municipal library , the consultants stated.

If a library district is formed to deliver a preferred level of service under option four, it would have the authority to levy property taxes for its activities, separate from the city’s property tax levy. That would allow the city to use existing property taxes that fund the library for other municipal purposes, the consultants stated.

A mill rate of 4.11 mills per $1,000 assessed value  —  about $142.86 on a $500,000 home —  would be needed to fully fund the preferred level of service for a library district, the consultants stated. 

Sieger Consulting was asked to develop and evaluate options for a more sustainable operating model for the library and a funding and financing strategy that can meet the demand for the high-quality services that the community has grown to expect, according to a staff report to the city council. Sieger Consulting was given $50,000 to conduct the second phase of the city’s library feasibility study, according to city officials.

Kimberly Bolan and Associates, or KBA,  conducted the first phase of the library feasibility study, which began in 2019 at a cost of $35,000. KBA found that while the community highly values the library’s resources and services, overall funding for the Longmont Public Library is both deficient and “insecure”, the staff report states.

General fund dollars are not dedicated to the library but provided after weighing other city projects, or “competitive appropriation,” the staff report states.

 The library also has significant facility needs, including both expansion and improvements, which, historically, have not been addressed within existing capital resources, the report states.