Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Libraries topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sno Isle Libraries outlines services in Oak Harbor and urges support for replacement levy on Aug. 4 ballot
Summary
Sno Isle Libraries executives described outreach, early-learning work and local usage numbers and urged voters to restore a levy rate to 47¢ per $1,000 of assessed value to sustain operations; Oak Harbor staff and residents pressed for more fiscal detail on projected revenue changes.
Eric Howard, executive director of Sno Isle Libraries, told the Oak Harbor City Council on July 21 that the library system operates 23 branches across two counties, maintains bookmobile outreach and has prioritized early-learning services, workforce support and community partnerships. He said the library district’s 2018 operating levy provides roughly 91% of the system’s revenue and that a replacement levy will appear on the Aug. 4 ballot.
Howard said the ballot measure would “restore” the levy rate from about $0.30 to $0.47 per $1,000 of assessed value and explained that, if voters approve, the restored rate would apply to current assessed values (not the 2018 assessed base). “The ballot is asking for it to be restored to what it was in 2018, which is 47¢,” Howard said. He added that after passage the district’s budget increases remain capped so typical cost pressures (books, staff health insurance) are a principal driver of the request.
Brian Tidwell, the library’s new Oak Harbor manager, described local use and programming. “In 2025, we had 124,000 visitors” at the Oak Harbor branch, Tidwell said, and he added that story-time attendance for the first half of 2026 had drawn about 1,700 children and parents. He described services that include resume help, business workshops, circulating hotspots and laptops, and outreach to day-care centers and senior centers.
Councilmembers asked presenters for additional budget detail, including how restoration to 47¢ would translate into dollars given current assessed values. Howard said staff could pull historical budget figures but did not have an exact dollar delta available at the meeting. “I don’t have that number off the top of my head,” he said when asked whether he could compare 2018 revenues with today’s projected yield at 47¢ per $1,000.
Frank Quan, speaking during the public-comment period as a member of Friends of the Oak Harbor Library and the Sno Isle Libraries Foundation, urged support for Proposition 1 on Aug. 4 to maintain library hours, collections and programs. “Libraries serve all of us at all of the stages of our lives, and that’s why strong libraries make really strong communities,” Quan said.
The council did not take a funding vote on the levy; presenters said they would return with any requested fiscal details. The library materials on the council’s screen and the Sno Isle website include a levy explainer and a link the presenters said shows budget detail and the levy decision process.
Looking ahead, Howard said the system is finishing a strategic plan and expects to return to council with survey results and priorities following community outreach.
