At the Pierce County Library System’s Board of Trustees’ Tuesday, Aug. 20, 4 p.m., study session,the Boardwill review strategies for managing finances for the Pierce County Library System.
The meeting will be held in person at the Pierce County Library Administrative Center at 3005 112th St. E., Tacoma. Optional virtual attendance is available via mypcls.org/about-us/board-of-trustees/.
Library administrators will give an overview of the Library System’s finances including the Levy Sustainability Fund. Library administrators created the fund and the Board of Trustees approved it, following voters passing a levy lid-lift in 2018. The levy lid-lift restored the Library’s funding to its full legal taxing level of 50 cents per every $1,000 on assessed property value. The Library System is almost entirely funded by taxes on property.
The Levy Sustainability Fund is a multi-year funding cycle for stable funding to deliver valued library services for approximately 10 years. As costs to operate libraries are increasing at a higher rate than revenues, funds from the restored levy are projected to be used at a faster rate.
At the study session the Board will hear how the Library System is managing finances currently in the overall operation of providing services throughout Pierce County. The Board will discuss how to manage the Levy Sustainability Fund for long-term sustainability, as costs to operate the Library System will begin to exceed revenues starting in 2025.
The study session is open to the public to observe, and the Board of Trustees does not take public comment or actions at study sessions.
For more information: https://mypcls.org/about-us/board-of-trustees/.
