A slate of amendments proposed by councilmembers would bump up the proposed $410 million renewal for the Seattle Public Library levy closer to half a billion, addressing everything from programming to materials to building maintenance. With 80% of the total seven-year levy proposed last month by Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson set to fund day-to-day operations across the library system, library advocates argue that the adds are essential to manage a beloved and well-used library system in a growing city.
Amendments are likely to be a hot topic at tonight's public hearing on the levy proposal, which starts at 5:30pm.
One amendment increase the levy by $10 million to pay for renovations on the Central Library, a building starting to show its wear after opening in 2004. A $15 million amendment would enable seismic upgrades beyond the single branch overhaul planned in Columbia City, and another $15 million would go toward cooling systems and broader deferred maintenance issues.
Amendments addressing library services would expand "multilingual play and learn programs" with an extra $4.5 million, add $6.4 million to boost the library's physical and electronic materials budget by 15%. A $4 million add would expand the library's Community Resource Specialist program, an internal team that connects library patrons with nearby social services. Most of the amendments were put forward by members of the Council's more progressive wing, including Dionne Foster, Alexis Mercedes Rinck, and Eddie Lin.
All told, the amendments would get the total levy much closer to the $500 million requested by library advocates, with several amendments put forward by Councilmember Dan Strauss currently only on deck with placeholder dollar amounts, to be inserted after likely dealmaking.
"As proposed, the 2026 levy would not provide enough for the system to meet the needs of our growing and diversifying population," Jennifer Lo, Matt Hillman, Yazmin Mehdi wrote in an op-ed in the Seattle Times last month.
All three are intimately aware in the library system's needs, as members of the board of the Friends of the Seattle Public Library, The Seattle Public Library Foundation, and the Board of Trustees of The Seattle Public Library respectively.
"The proposed levy includes $29 million in new funding for essential projects like a seismic retrofit of the historic Columbia Branch and basic deferred maintenance work around the system," the op-ed continued. "But the library estimates that it needs at least $75 million more over the coming decade to keep spaces safe, clean and welcoming. Unless the levy is increased, we will only scratch the surface of these needs."
But increasing the levy's size is unlikely to be unanimously supported on the Council, despite widespread support for libraries in Seattle – the 2019 library levy was approved with 76% of the vote. In comments made Tuesday, Maritza Rivera, chairing the committee tasked with hashing out these amendments, made it clear that she didn't support any increases to the levy's size after standing behind Mayor Wilson when she rolled out the $410 million package.
Rivera's primary argument against more library funding was the overall state of the city's cumulative voter-approved levies, which are getting close to a cap of $3.60 for every $1,000 in property value. Currently at $3.02, the $410 million levy would push that to $3.21.
"I cannot, in good comfort, support any additions to this levy, not because I do not love libraries, because I do and wish we could give more, but because at already 50% more than inflation, it is fiscally irresponsible to increase the proposal, given the city's other needs," Rivera said. "It is unfortunate that this is the City's financial reality, and I take no joy in bringing this up, but this is where we are now."
Rivera cited economic uncertainty around Trump's war in Iran, and the need to save capacity for future levies, including a renewal of the housing levy set for 2030, and renewals for the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise and Seattle Transportation levies after that.
Ultimately, the state's $3.60 levy cap simply isn't workable with how state law currently treats city levies. For example, a renewal of the $1.55 billion transportation levy may put the city over that cap, if it isn't already met by 2032 when it comes up for renewal. The state legislature is almost certainly going to need to come up with a fix ahead of that time.
Without supplemental funding, it's clear the library system won't be prepared to proactively address the needs of patrons, kicking the can down the road.
"The Central Library now being 22 years old, at the end of this next levy, it will be nearly 30. We are already at the point of needing to replace elevators and escalators," City Librarian Tom Fay told the library levy committee on March 25. "There's four elevators, there's six stories of escalators that also has to be considered as a replacement, and there's elevators throughout the rest of the branches."
It's unclear how many votes there will be on the Council to hold steady at $410 million beyond Rivera. All of the amendments proposed by Rob Saka, including a request to make building upgrades on the West Seattle branch library, would force the library to make do with existing resources.
"The demand on our collection is high. The demand for e-books and digital media is far outpacing our beloved library's ability to keep up," Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck said Tuesday. "The levy as transmitted allows us to maintain [the] status quo, as adjusted for inflation, but that status quo is not meeting the pressures of bookflation. We're already in the top ten worldwide in digital book checkouts and our highly literate population is still rapidly growing."
Public testimony on the 2026 library Levy renewal starts at 5:30pm tonight at City Hall; commenters can provide remarks in-person or via phone.
Ryan Packer
Ray Dubicki
