Washington County to redraw WCCLS service boundaries; board directs staff to hold Beaverton and Cedar Mill harmless in first year of new funding formula

Washington County commissioners on Oct. 2 directed staff to update library service boundaries for the Washington County Cooperative Library Services (WCCLS) to align with cities' Urban Planning Area Agreements (UPAAs) and to implement a funding allocation that preserves base funding for Beaverton and Cedar Mill in the first year of the new levy cycle.

The board’s action follows a staff presentation on a revised allocation methodology and proposed boundary changes tied to the countywide WCCLS levy and expiring intergovernmental agreements (IGAs). "Our intention today is to answer questions and concerns that were raised by your board last week," said Marnie Kyle, assistant county administrator, introducing the briefing and the staff team.

Why it matters: WCCLS’s current levies and IGAs expire in June 2026. Staff told the board the county needs new, updated IGAs and an allocation approach in time to provide cities with proposed amounts for their December budget planning. The briefing also reflected a longstanding concern that formulas based on usage metrics can perpetuate investment disparities among partners.

What staff proposed and what the board agreed to

- Boundaries: Staff proposed multiple map adjustments that assign several unincorporated areas to the cities whose UPAA covers them. Examples given in the presentation include moving about 2,738 residents from Aloha’s service area to Beaverton, about 5,600 from Beaverton to Tigard (multiple Tigard-area islands and a peninsula), about 1,033 from Cedar Mill to Beaverton, 73 residents from Cedar Mill to Hillsboro, and smaller moves (e.g., 43 residents to Tigard and 24 residents to Tualatin). Jordan Henderson of Meridian Company explained the UPAA overlay and mapping work.

- Funding implementation: Although the boundary redraws would change service-population counts under the formula, staff recommended — and the board agreed — to use an implementation strategy that maintains the funding allocations for Beaverton and Cedar Mill in the first year (FY 2026-27) rather than immediately reducing their budgets to reflect the boundary changes. Under that approach those partners would keep the allocation shown in staff’s earlier model for the first year and receive normal escalations in later years.

- Ramp-up partners and MOAs: The board also agreed to keep Aloha and Forest Grove at the same projected annual potential increase as other partners (4.25% in staff forecasts) and to require ramp-up plans (to be memorialized in memoranda of agreement) for those partners. Staff said MOAs would include accountability and spending principles specific to ramp-up partners and would return to the board along with the systemwide IGA principles.

What the new formula uses (staff summary)

Staff described the components of the proposed allocation model: an updated service-population count (binned in increments of 2,500), an assumed staffing ratio of 4.5 full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions per 10,000 service-population, and an average cost-per-FTE of about $128,000 for the forecasted FY 2026-27 year (derived from 2023-24 actuals then escalated at 6% per year). Staff showed that using checkouts or foot-traffic as the principal driver for funding can reinforce existing inequities; the State Library of Oregon guidance cited by staff cautions against using usage metrics to set service populations.

Maps, populations and numbers

Staff walked commissioners through the proposed precinct-based boundary corrections, explaining that the county used voter precincts for manageability but overlaid UPAA areas where precinct lines produced anomalies. Staff repeatedly warned that the "current service population" numbers are legacy estimates and that the updated mapping provides more accurate counts required for grants and operations. The presentation included multiple small-area population impacts (see clarifying details below).

Annexation and future transitions

Staff recommended adding annexation transition language to the IGA: if a city annexes land inside its UPAA, the annexed area would transition to the city’s library service within two years and the county would support a service transition plan between nonprofit providers and the city. Commissioners asked clarifying questions about whether money would follow annexation and whether contracting back to nonprofits would remain an option. Staff said questions about annexation timing and whether funding will follow specific annexation actions would be addressed in the IGA negotiations; the board did not adopt separate, final action on annexation language at this meeting.

Debate over growth assumptions and the 4.25% figure

Commissioners pressed staff on how much the county should assume in future assessed-value (AV) growth when calculating annual allocation increases. Staff used a 4.25% AV growth assumption in its primary forecasts; some commissioners argued for a cap at 4.25% with any excess placed into a reserve, to avoid political pressure to distribute short-term windfalls and then face shortfalls later. The board did not adopt a formal cap at the meeting but directed staff to return with clear budget guidance and IGA language for the levy negotiations.

Board direction and next steps

Commissioners asked staff to prepare a concise presentation for the board meeting next Tuesday that codifies the directions given at the work session so the county can (1) finalize proposed allocations to send to cities for December budget planning, (2) draft IGAs that reflect the boundary updates and MOAs for ramp-up partners, and (3) continue stakeholder outreach ahead of the June 2026 IGA/levy deadline.

Quotes from the meeting

"Our intention today is to answer questions and concerns that were raised by your board last week," Marnie Kyle said at the start of the briefing.

"Using checkout metrics and foot traffic to drive funding allocation, those tend to reward communities that have higher levels of education… Communities who use libraries in less traditional ways… tend to receive less funding," Lisa Tattersall, WCCLS manager, said while explaining why the State Library cautions against usage-based service populations.

"That is why… no partner received less than a 5% increase over their current [allocation]," Jordan Henderson of Meridian Company said when explaining how prior board guidance affected the modeled dollar changes for some partners.

Ending note

Staff will return with a shorter codifying presentation and draft IGA/MOA language for formal action at the board’s next meeting; the levy and new IGAs must be in place by June 2026 for allocations to take effect in July 2026.