Eugene staff outline levy options as library funding faces June 2026 expiration

Eugene Public Library Director Angela Ocana and Joshua Bates, executive director of Library, Recreation and Cultural Services, briefed the Eugene City Council at a Sept. 22 work session on options for renewing the library local option levy, which currently expires in June 2026. Ocana told councilors the levy generates $2,850,000 annually and pays for 18.4 staff positions, the materials budget and programs across the downtown, Bethel and Sheldon branches.

The presentation reviewed the levy's history and impact: a 2015 local option measure (referred to in the presentation as Measure 2235) passed with 52% of the vote and restored hours and materials after the recession; a 2020 renewal, passed with 76% support during the COVID-19 period, maintained 160 operational hours across the three locations and expanded programs. Bates said staff will pursue polling and community engagement and return to council with possible levy packages and rate scenarios. Staff identified a timeline that includes council discussion on Oct. 27, polling results in January, possible council action to place a measure on the May 2026 ballot, and a final council deadline to adopt a resolution to place a measure on the May ballot on Feb. 18.

Why this matters: Councilors and presenters said the levy underpins hours, branch services, teen and early-literacy programming, the materials budget and technology lending, and that a failed renewal would require further service reductions. Ocana said the levy helped expand branch hours (for example, Bethel branch hours rose from 26 to 49.5 weekly under prior levies) and supported a large increase in teen programming and attendance.

Library staff provided usage and impact figures. The presentation said the Eugene public libraries average about 1,000,000 visits per year and that 65% of Eugene residents have an active library card. Presenters said the system has circulated roughly 25,000,000 items since the expanded-levy era; the materials budget is now supported in part by donations, including contributions from the Eugene Friends and the Eugene Foundation. Ocana and Bates told councilors the library has reduced 14 positions in recent years and that 18.4 positions are currently funded by the levy.

Council discussion focused on expansion requests, residency and funding equity, and service delivery. Councilor Clark asked about community requests to add a branch in the River Road-Santa Clara area. Ocana said the survey that generated the request did not distinguish clearly between city residents and non-city users; staff reported that 85 respondents living in River Road-Santa Clara expressed interest in a local library service zone, but Ocana said whether those respondents were Eugene residents or out-of-district users was not identified in the slide and that staff would provide further resident-card and user-location data to councilors on request. Councilors and staff discussed the existing policy that non-city residents may be charged for library access (Ocana noted a nonresident card fee of $130, while students in the 4J and Bethel districts are exceptions covered in part by the school districts and fundraisers).

Councilors asked about lower-cost service options such as additional drop-off boxes and pick-up locations. Bates said the Amazon Park drop box is well used and that additional drop boxes or pick-up locations could be a fiscally modest way to expand service, but would require additional levy funding. On the question of safety at the downtown branch, Ocana said the library's community survey was taken during a peak period of camping and that the council's 2023 ordinance limiting camping near educational entities had helped staff and patrons feel the downtown library is a more accessible space.

Staff described constraints from prior levy language. Ocana and Bates noted that the 2015 levy included specific line items (for example calling out laptops) that later limited flexibility as technology and community needs evolved; staff said they want a future levy structure that preserves accountability while allowing flexibility as program and technology needs change. Bates told the council staff will finalize a contract with a polling firm, carry out community engagement and return with concrete package options on the dates described.

Councilors asked staff to return with detailed scenarios showing what different levy rate levels would buy and what cuts might look like if the levy were not renewed. Bates said specific cut scenarios were not available at the Sept. 22 session but that staff would present different levels and concepts at future meetings. He repeated that without levy revenue staff would face "a really rough patch" and would need to consider significant cuts.

Next steps: staff will proceed with polling and engagement, return to council on Oct. 27 to discuss themes and possible packages, and aim to bring polling results and a potential resolution for ballot placement back to council in January and February of 2026. Councilors indicated they want more granular data on who uses library services in the River Road-Santa Clara area and clearer cost-and-service tradeoffs for package options.