Washington County commissioner: library levy raises equity questions as unincorporated population tops 200,000

County Commissioner Jason Snyder told the Tualatin City Council at its work session that the county is still revising how funds from a proposed library levy would be allocated among cities and nonprofit libraries, and that broader county revenue uncertainty is limiting the ability to guarantee future increases.

Snyder, who gave the quarterly update, said the county plans continued conversations and has scheduled a long session to continue work on library funding. "There is an intent to provide the same increase that the county property taxes go up by," he told councilors, but added the county is cautious about promising that in writing because "we are in a world where the funding is less certain than it was 9 months ago."

The discussion focused on how the levy money would be split between incorporated cities and nonprofit libraries that serve parts of unincorporated Washington County. Snyder said the county received repeated questions from city leaders about whether cities should cover the portion of service costs that benefit nonprofit libraries. He told councilors there is no separate taxing mechanism for those nonprofit organizations and that reallocating levy money to shift the burden would mean less money available overall.

Why it matters: the county's allocation approach affects where levy dollars flow and whether previously underserved areas receive larger increases. Snyder said some unincorporated service areas are getting much larger proposed increases than city libraries; Councilor Pratt and others pointed to particular service areas with projected increases of roughly 100 percent compared with single-digit increases in some city libraries.

Snyder urged elected officials to think about long-term structural solutions. "There are revenue things that are being evaluated," he said, citing examples such as franchise fees for right‑of‑way use that the county does not currently charge. He also identified housing and mental-health services as the county's top near‑term priorities and warned that state funding reductions and mandates could force difficult tradeoffs. "We're gonna be also having significant discussions with the state legislature about all the mandates for services that they expect but are paying less and less for," Snyder said.

Councilors raised equity concerns for residents in Tualatin's portion of the county and other places they said have been historically underserved. Snyder noted the scope of the unincorporated urban area — "about 220,000" residents — and called it the size of the state's second‑largest city if incorporated, a fact he used to underline the scale of the funding challenge.

Next steps and council role: Snyder said county staff will look for opportunities for city input, including chances to testify as the county finalizes the allocation formula. He asked councils to monitor the county's work on the urban services framework and to engage on finance and policy options. Bryn, Snyder's staff assistant, made note of council requests for follow‑up.

No formal action or vote on levy allocation occurred during the work session; Snyder said the county commission will continue to meet and revise the proposal.