Spokane County voters will weigh paying more in property taxes for rural libraries

The average Spokane County homeowner will be asked this August if they’re willing to pay an additional $53 in annual taxes to assist local libraries.

The Spokane County Library District board of trustees voted in April to put a measure on the August primary ballot that would raise the district’s rate from $0.33 per $1,000 of assessed value to $0.45, if approved.

The owner of a $440,000 home, the average value of a Spokane County home in 2026, would see their library tax bill rise from $145.53 to $198.45.

The district is spread across 10 physical libraries and a mobile truck that routinely frequents smaller, rural communities in Spokane County. On Friday, the LINC mobile truck visited Spangle and Latah. Residents of Airway Heights, Cheney, Deer Park, Fairfield, Latah, Medical Lake, Millwood, Rockford, Spangle, Spokane Valley, Waverly and unincorporated areas of Spokane County are served by the district.

If approved, district leadership say the measure would provide funding for the district to keep up with the costs of building maintenance, labor and other operating costs.

More than 97% of the district’s funding is provided through its levy, which was last lifted by county voters in 2019 by a 55% majority.

Executive Director Patrick Roewe said in a May interview that the current rate of $0.33 per $1,000 of assessed value is the lowest in the past 25 years. The levy lid has remained the same since 2019 as property values have risen dramatically, which drove down the rate each homeowner pays.

Roewe said the goal is “maintaining our current level, with some enhancements as well.”

“All of our services we offer have no additional cost, and we want to keep it that way, and not have to reduce the number of programs we offer to the public, not reduce the number of books we have available,” Roewe said. “Both on the shelf and in our digital e-book collection.”

The funding would be used to update interiors and technology, improve compliance with federal laws for disability access and to make other maintenance repairs to roofs and HVAC systems. It would also allow the district to increase the amount of digital checkouts available, which are growing ever more popular with library users, Roewe said.

“Our e-books, our streaming platforms for audio books and movies and things like that, that is kind of our biggest gain in usage over time,” Roewe said.

The Rev. Catherine Tobey, who co-pastors Bethany Presbyterian Church with her husband, Adam Tobey, volunteered to write the “for” argument in the voter’s pamphlet after seeing a request in the district’s newsletter. She and her family visit the north Spokane location most often.

“It’s a great place to get out of the house, connect with other people and expose the kids to more of the world,” Catherine Tobey said. “And it doesn’t cost any money.”

Tobey, 35, said the library is a resource for all ages, so she was happy to throw her support behind the measure. As an example, Tobey said she recently finished her Ph.D. while working in a county library. Her counterpart in constructing the “for” argument is retired attorney Ed Carroll, who said he still frequents the library while “pushing 80.”

“I just think reading and learning is critical,” Carroll said. “My general motto in life is learn to live, live to learn.”

Carroll said he and his wife are both avid library cardholders; they enjoy the large selection of books, seeing children and families at play and the assistance offered by the staff.

“I’ve only learned in the last couple of years how broad the library services are,” Carroll said. “I used to think it was just all books, but it’s way beyond that.”

No one volunteered to write an argument against the ballot measure in the voter’s pamphlet.

County Commissioner Josh Kerns said he was not familiar with the district’s proposal, as did Spokane Valley City Councilman Mike Kelly and Spokane Valley Mayor Laura Padden. Speaking for the City Council, Padden said the board wouldn’t typically take a position on a measure like the library’s levy request.

“I wasn’t even particularly aware that they were putting something on the ballot,” Padden said. “And the council would never take a position on that kind of stuff.”

Tobey said she greatly enjoyed participating in the democratic process with Caroll. It was a new experience for both of them, and the two connected over shared values. She said she adores the community aspect of the library.

“Our goal in being ministers is creating safe spaces to learn about ourselves, but church doesn’t work for everyone,” Tobey said. “I think libraries fill that void in a different way and provide that community connection that we all need so badly.”