Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Libraries topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Library leaders ask Lancaster City Council to back countywide referendum and outline funding gap
Summary
Lancaster Public Library staff told council the system faces funding shortfalls for 2027 and urged support for a countywide ballot referendum to provide stable funding; presenters said petition signatures are due Sept. 3 and the effort needs 4,612 signatures to reach the November ballot.
John Heinley, director of donor advising for Lancaster Public Library, outlined the library system's usage and financial picture at the Aug. 3 Lancaster City Council committee meeting and urged support for a countywide funding referendum.
"We are encouraging people to vote yes for libraries," Heinley said, presenting 2025 statistics showing that 43% of Lancaster City residents hold library cards and that program attendance rose 44.6% after the system moved into its new downtown building. Heinley said the library system now provides hotspots, a business and reference center, outreach through an ARPA-funded "on the go" van and expanded multilingual programming.
Heinley said the system has lost passport-processing revenue that supported about one full position and that ARPA funding covering some positions will end this year, creating gaps in the 2027 budget. He described a proposed countywide ballot question that would levy 0.55 mills on taxable real estate and dedicate proceeds to the 14 libraries in the county.
When councilors pressed for numbers, Heinley said the referendum's revenue projection depends on whether the mill rate is applied to the 2026 or 2027 reassessed base. "The higher amount is in the low 40s [million] and the lower amount is in the high 20s," he said, and added that the lower figure would roughly match current operating budgets for county libraries. He asked council to consider a formal resolution of support.
On logistics, Heinley said petition sheets must be notarized and filed with the county by Sept. 3 and that the campaign needs 4,612 signatures to qualify for the November ballot; he estimated the campaign was "over 1,000" signatures at the time of the meeting. Council members discussed municipal contributions (the city provided $110,000 this year) and outreach tactics, and staff agreed to share reassessment-related revenue clarifications with council leadership when available.
The presentation closed with an invitation to councilors to sign petition sheets after the meeting and with staff offering to provide follow-up revenue estimates once reassessment guidance is confirmed.
