By Brittney Moraski
As Advocacy Chair for the Seattle Public Library Foundation’s board, I want all Seattleites to know that the quality of our library system is within our control. This summer, we have the opportunity to vote in favor of one-third of the Seattle Public Library’s budget and invest in its future.
On the August 4 primary ballot, Seattle voters will be asked to replace the expiring 2019 Library Levy with a $479 million package. This is funding that cannot be met by philanthropic or other governmental sources. To sustain the system we know, love, and use, please vote yes.
Whether you’re checking out an e-book or e-audiobook through the Libby app, reserving a meeting room, picking up a book after-hours at a holds locker, watching movies on DVD or through Hoopla, finding respite from the heat, practicing music, attending programs like Story Time, or participating in Summer Book Bingo, there are endless ways to “visit” the library. The Seattle Public Library is one of the only places in our city that Seattle residents can enjoy without having to spend additional money, as a record number of people are discovering: In 2025, there were 430,000 active Library users.
The replacement levy further expands the Library’s reach and impact on Seattle. It would add staff to enhance literacy and learning programming, like book readings by authors, and make that programming more accessible by broadcasting it on the Seattle Channel. The new levy also invests more in physical and digital materials, which will reduce wait times for in-demand books. It would also upgrade technology hardware and software needed to connect library users to the digital world.
I know some voters may question the price tag of this year’s proposed levy, which is larger than the levy passed in 2019. But the new investments are necessary additions that reflect growing library use. More than 70 percent of the new $479 million levy will go toward continuing operating hours, collections, and programs provided in the 2019 levy, including popular programs like No Late Fines and Peak Picks. Furthermore, these voter-approved dollars will fund a quarter of Library staff over the next seven years.
In addition to supporting collections and programs, the 2026 Library Levy is essential to maintaining the physical spaces of the library. Despite its futuristic appearance, the Central Library is now more than 20 years old, and this well-loved place is showing its age. The levy will fund improvements at Central, ensuring that the space remains welcoming to the thousands who visit it each day. Additionally, the levy will fund seismic retrofits of the Columbia and West Seattle branches and maintain elevators and escalators at locations throughout the city. These investments are critical to keeping our libraries safe and accessible to everyone.
All of this comes at good value for Seattle residents: The average homeowner will pay an additional $9 a month, less than the cost of a paperback book. Levy spending is overseen by an independent Board of Trustees, with quarterly and annual reports from the Library available to the public. And while concerns over the city’s state-mandated levy cap are legitimate, this issue is larger than the scope of this levy, which makes up just 7 percent of overall city property taxes.
At a time of layoffs and high prices in an already expensive city, I take it seriously to ask my fellow residents, homeowners and renters alike, to voluntarily tax themselves to fund our libraries. However, the books and services the Library provides are all the more important during times of economic hardship. From early learning programs for families to skill-building for job seekers to retirement preparation for seniors, the Library provides resources for people at every stage of life. Failure to pass this Levy would remove a third of the Library’s funding—jeopardizing an institution that serves as a lifeline and a catalyst for so many Seattle residents.
A thriving library system is the foundation of an affordable city, a bulwark against disinformation, and a place where those who will create the world we yearn for—entrepreneurs, free thinkers, and activists—find their voice and way. Seattle voters get to decide the kind of library system we have. Together, let’s ensure it remains an outstanding one.
Brittney Moraski is a Seattle Public Library Foundation Board Member and Advocacy Chair.
I will absolutely be voting NO. The taxpayers are tapped out.
G’wan git to North Dakota already and fail to be a contributing member of society somewhere that they appreciare that kind of thing.
The people who treat Seattle as a commodity need to go.
If taking everything and not letting a penny “trickle down” greed is why you are here in Seattle? Go away please. We all pay for things we never use. This is a world class city. We should have world class infastructure.
Hi Brittney,
When I moved here 10 years ago the Capitol Hill branch couldn’t have been nicer. It is now basically a glorified homeless shelter. It smells bad. Bathrooms are disgusting. All the window seats, which used to be charming places to read, are now sleeping berths for people and storage for their trash. Librarians have forced to become crisis managers. This levy offers no TRUE solutions for these issues, and so regretfully I must vote not no, but HELL NO.
Hi Bill – I’m sorry that has been your experience. Capitol Hill was my neighborhood branch from 2016-2024.
In regards to looking for solutions to the challenges you’ve highlighted, the Levy includes 4 FTE Community Resource specialists. Per the Levy, these specialists (who are not librarians) “answer questions about and connects Library patrons to social services in the area, such as access to shelter, healthcare, transportation, food, and clothing. The additional positions are intended to extend coverage to match open hours and provide additional staffing at high-need areas.”
Brittney,
If we are honest with ourselves, you, I, and everyone else knows that’s nowhere near enough to turn certain branches, Cap Hill being one of them, back to anywhere near the pleasant and welcoming places they need to be and used to be. And it certainly doesn’t address any of the specific issues I mentioned, nor the many more other neighbors and I have observed. Sometimes it’s even a chore to access the entrances when one has to trip over humans, animals, and trash on the steps going up, pass through a cloud of fenty smoke, or sidestep drug deals going on in the downstairs parking area. Yes, these problems require a partnership with other city agencies, including law enforcement. But that is what it is…whatever it takes. Otherwise this levy is an absolute no go. VOTE NO and let the mayor and council know why. Have them start from scratch with the safety and accessibility issues, and then have them produce a product all of us will be proud to vote YES on.
Covid fd everything up. We are still staggering a bit. Nationwide we are better if not best at recovering.
The levy supports staff so it is a better place to go. We can’t even get nurses and librarians in schools due to cuts and a “NO WAY EVER!” crowd that is here for one thing. Make their money. Oppose all taxes. And pay nothing forward. Then move.
I have been here 60 years. The last 30 have transformed Seattle into a bouge place you can’t afford. People buying up all the property. Everything is a commodity. Meaning no longer affordable.
As if not paying it forward is a virtue?
Inflation increased about 30% in past seven year Levy. There is no reason the library Levy for next seven years should increase more than that and definitely not 100%. It’s time for the city to tighten its belt and stop asking permission to overspend in every Levy.
Hi Ballardite – author (Brittney) here. I respectfully disagree. A Library Levy that only accounted for inflation would not address the needs of a city whose population is growing and a library system that more and more people are using. Less than 30% of this Levy (not a large percentage) is net-new from the 2019 Levy and includes things like a renovation at Central and seismic retrofits at Columbia and West Seattle.
The homeless services budget should pay for any homeless services the libraries provide. This should include: budget for additional security officers, additional janitorial services, trainings for librarians on dealing with homeless people in the library, replacement of any items damaged due to homeless living, additional pressure washing on exterior space including doors and sidewalks near buildings. Library funds are covering this now and were able to cover it which shows they are already having plenty of money. Any large capital projects should be capital levies voted separately
If you ain’t doing it Ballardite’s way it is done wrong. They are anti every tax and it’s always misguided and venomous.
Sure, double the property tax on housing. Absolutely no one finds living here expensive, right?
Hi FX Collins, author (Brittney) here. The Library Levy will not double the property tax on housing. Property taxes will increase from $2.96 per $1,000 of assessed value to $3.07 — an increase of 3.72%.
Brittney, sorry you are trying to mislead voters here by talking about the rate set against property. values,not dollars collected. The amount of the levy collections will double over the previous levy.
The new levy will make housing more expensive.
The new levy is bloated with dubious expenses, such as $2.1 million for an office of inclusion. The director of that office has a pay range over $200,000 a year.
Vote no.
Inflation is hitting the budgets hard.
This is not how property taxes work in practice. There is research indicating that higher property taxes reduces the sticker price of housing by spreading the total cost over a longer period of time. Since property taxes are amortized into the total cost of housing on purchase, lowering property taxes in a competitive market just raises prices. These higher prices then demand larger down payments and greater capital to invest. On the flip side, higher property taxes mean lower sticker prices which makes it easier for less capitalized buyers to compete in the market. It’s the same monthly cost, it’s just a question of how that money is distributed between taxes, equity, and interest.
Higher property taxes can contribute to displacement of existing residents, but the impact of the library levy is not substantial in this case, and the specifics are impossible to generalize in a levy-based system like Washington’s where how much you pay in taxes is proportional to the relative value of your property within your taxing districts. Even if rates go up, if the value of your property declines in a relative sense, you’ll pay less. The converse is also true. For most lower-income homeowners in Seattle (the few that remain), it is likely that they fall into the “declining value of property in a relative sense” as new developments have increased the total assessed values faster than their properties have appreciated in value.
“This is not how property taxes work in practice. There is research indicating that higher property taxes reduces the sticker price of housing by spreading the total cost over a longer period of time”
This “research” is completely insane. Higher property taxes are just that, higher property taxes. The new library levy is a tax increase proposal that will be voted on by the public. It’s very straight forward levy, easy to understand, with reasons for voters to support it with a yes vote, and other reasons to vote no. There is absolutely no need to cock this thing up with bogus “research” trying to say it’s not really a tax increase.
That’s basic economics, and I’m surprised your interlocutor can’t understand that. You aren’t saying it isn’t a tax increase, you’re saying it reduces housing prices, which isn’t the same thing at all. Anyway, thank you for pointing this out; it’s an angle I hadn’t considered before.
I am responding to the portion of the comment referencing higher housing costs related to property taxes, not the tax increase itself. The research is about the effect of property taxes on housing prices, which I think is plenty reasonable. https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2024/how-higher-property-taxes-increase-home-affordability.