missing title

All right, good morning, everyone.

The March 31st, 2026 meeting of the Select Committee on the Library Levy will come to order.

It's 9.32 a.m.

I'm Maritza Rivera, chair of the committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Lin?

Here.

Councilmember Rink?

Present.

Councilmember Saca?

Here.

Councilmember Strauss?

Here.

Councilmember Foster?

Here.

Councilmember Kettle?

Here.

Vice Chair Hollingsworth.

Chair Rivera.

Present.

Seven council members are present.

Thank you, Clerk.

Please note for the record that Council Member Juarez is excused from today's meeting and Council President Hollingsworth is excused until she can join us in a little while today.

Today we will be discussing the proposed amendments to the library levy.

Eric McConaughey from the central staff will lead us through that discussion.

Let's move first to the adoption of today's agenda.

If there's no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

We will now open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comment should relate to items on the agenda or within the purview of this committee.

Clerk, how many speakers are signed up today?

We have five in person and one virtual.

Thank you.

Given that, each speaker will have two minutes.

Clerk, will you please read the public comment instructions?

The public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

The public comment period is up to 20 minutes.

Each speaker will have two minutes.

Speakers will be called in the order in which they registered.

We will start with in-person speakers first, and then remote speakers until the public comment period has ended.

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of their time.

The public comment period is now open.

We will begin with the first speaker on the list, Brittany Marske.

Hi.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I'm Brittany Morawski.

I'm board member of the Seattle Public Library Foundation and then chair of the Advocacy Committee and resident of District 6. And through this process, I've gotten to know many of you or I've seen you at meetings, and I really appreciate your service to the city.

As my fellow library supporters Matt, Jennifer, and Yasmin wrote in a Seattle Times op-ed last week, we've been advocating for a larger library levy.

So I'm especially appreciative of the amendments that have been brought forward to increase the size of the levy, and I urge you to pass them.

Supporting these amendments is the best way to responsibly steward our city.

These increases are essential to the library and, in the context of the levy lid or property taxes, small.

I recognize that the city needs to be thoughtful about its levy capacity.

What we're talking about today are things that are just critical to library services.

The additional $70 million that we're asking to be added to the levy is going to be spread over seven years.

So that's only $10 million a year.

For the average property owner, those additional investments will increase property taxes by less than $3 a month.

But the benefits to the library and to Seattleites will be significant.

These benefits could include more books and programs, shorter hold times, and more working elevators more regularly.

A vibrant library system is the foundation of an affordable city where books and knowledge belong to everyone.

And it's the cornerstone of the democratic principles behind our country.

Now is the time to ensure that the library has the funding it needs for the next seven years.

Please vote for these low-cost, high-value amendments.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Carolyn Sire, Angel Salls, Angela Castaneda, and Thomas Kostam are next.

Good morning.

Thank you for your time.

Oh, can you hear me OK?

Yeah.

Yes.

Thank you for your time.

My name is Caroline Sayre, and I'm a resident of Council District 6. Thank you for your public service.

When I was growing up, my dad was the first cellist of the San Francisco Symphony.

When he wasn't performing at night, he read books.

My mom, from the Netherlands, finished her books at the end before even starting the beginning.

My younger brother learned to read music.

Me?

I hated reading.

But once I turned 10, I walked to my Richmond District Library often, sat on the floor for hours, and read books.

I've since grown up a second time, and probably a third, starting in the 90s, Seattle, where I discovered the Fremont Library.

Today I read 50 books a year, attend workshops and lectures, and reserve rooms for gatherings.

I've taught others to read in ESL classes.

Thank you, Councilmember Rink and Strauss, for your amendments to support more materials.

Libraries transform people and therefore communities.

We become better.

Please support the library levy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Angel Sals followed by Angela Castaneda and then Thomas Kostam.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Thank you, council members.

It's great to see you again.

I can barely see you because I need my readers, but I will look over these.

It's good to see all of you.

My name is Angel Salls.

I live in District 7. As you know, I am on the board of the Friends of Seattle Public Library.

I spoke a few weeks ago to ask you to use the opportunity the 2026 levy presents to add even more books to the library's physical and digital shelves to better meet the insatiable appetite of reading in our city.

I wanted to come back today because I am so grateful for the investments you are proposing to provide more access to books.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Rink, thank you for your amendments to boost the library's collection of digital books and to expand the Peak Picks program.

And as you have heard, digital book prices present a serious challenge for the library to meet patron demands.

We have been working hard the past few years to build momentum at the state level for a long-term solution, but there is a long way to go.

These additional investments would be the most meaningful thing our city government could do to expand access right now for digital readers.

And more people could experience the joy of no wait, no holds, peak pick on their Libby app.

I also want to thank Councilmember Strauss, thank you, for your amendment to grow library collections, including for print books.

Just because more people are reading digitally doesn't mean that physical book checkouts are going down.

People in Seattle are reading more in every format.

Our community asks you to respond to their reading needs with a levy that delivers accordingly.

With these proposed additions, our library can provide Seattle with the books we need.

Thank you so much for stepping up for the library.

We appreciate you.

Thank you, Angela Castaneda, followed by Thomas Constem.

Good morning.

Thank you, Chair Rivera and council members.

My name is Angela Castaneda, and I live, work, and play in District 2. I'm here today to support additional investments in the Seattle Public Library, in particular its wonderful program like Library to Business.

I'm the executive director of Beacon Business Alliance.

Our mission is to advance equitable development through collaborative partnerships that recognize both traditional businesses and creative entrepreneurs as vital economic drivers contributing to our community's unique character.

To do this work, we really must have strong relationships with resource and information partners.

The Library to Business program is one of our best.

Over the years, we've worked closely with Library to Business as organizing partners, as advocates, and to generally spread the word about free resources for Seattle's micro entrepreneurs in all stages, from incubation to stable.

hopefully sustainable.

This strong partnership, which has helped so many people in my community and citywide get the information they need as they look to expand, strengthen, or start a business, is possible because Library to Business has a wonderful, dedicated program manager.

Dedicated program staff have the time and capacity required to forge strong relationships, build trust, and create new opportunities for the community.

I'm very glad to see additional program capacity built into the proposed levy.

Also encouraged to see investments in library spaces that host so many programs like Library to Business.

We're excited that the proposal includes funding to finally update the historic Columbia City branch in District 2. And thank you council members Lynn and Rink for your amendments, adding funding for cooling and maintenance needs across the system, and other retrofit for the West Seattle branch, so that more library spaces can safely host free community programs all year long.

Thank you so much for your work to improve and pass a strong library.

Thank you, Angela.

Time is custom, and then we'll go to online.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Thank you, Chair Rivera and council members.

My name is Thomas Conesam.

I'm a Seattle-born and based novelist.

My most recent book, Supersonic, came out last year.

It covers four families over 150 years in a fictional Seattle neighborhood.

and the creation of our city.

My last book was Lake City.

I did an event at the Shanty Tavern with Councilmember Juarez and young Councilmember Strauss was there before he was on the...

Council.

But yeah, I wrote, I'm here to speak in favor of the proposed amendments for the levy from the perspective of an author.

I wrote much of my most recent book at the Lake City Library in the Northeast Branch.

I did a ton of research, especially at the Lake City branch, archival stuff, maps, old newspaper clippings.

I was assisted by expert librarians just to get stuff that it's not on the internet.

It's not anywhere else.

And it was hugely helpful in my process of writing something that was very specifically Seattle.

Yes, and I'm also thrilled to see Councilmember Rink's proposed amendments for increases to the collections, including digital materials, very important, and staffing.

As of yesterday, there were six copies, e-book copies of my book, Supersonic, and they were all checked out.

Now, obviously, for personal reasons, I'd like to see more of those, but it's also for support of local authors, for Seattle to continue to be a place that creates art and gets it out into our community.

Ooh, running out of time.

But I just want to also thank Councilmember Suarez and Foster for the need for multilingual programming.

And it's important in a changing city that we have robust and healthy institutions like libraries.

Bring back the Sonics.

Thank you.

Thank you, Tom.

Thank you, Thomas.

All right.

We will go to online speakers now.

We've got Dorothy Doyle, followed by David Haynes.

Dorothy, please press star six and you may begin.

Thank you, council members.

I hope that you can hear me.

Yes.

My name is Dorothy Doyle.

I live in West Seattle in District 1. I want to speak in favor of the additional investments for programming capacity proposed in the 2026 library levy.

As a full-time caregiver for my husband, Al, I benefit firsthand from the valuable programming provided.

I left my career in 2019 to support my husband, who was experiencing memory lapses.

Three years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

I participate in one of the library's programs that you may not know about.

in partnership with the UW Memory Hub and the American Parkinson's Disease Association.

It's a monthly program called Books and Beats.

It provides caregivers with facilitated book discussions while our partners with memory loss enjoy a music engagement program led by a certified music therapist.

SPL makes copies of new books available for us and leads the discussion.

Books and Beats provides space to learn essential caregiving and self-care strategies, but even more significant has been the meaningful connections made with those living in similar circumstances.

Having the time together has been crucial for me as a caregiver.

Supporting someone we love who suffers from a condition that diminishes cognitive ability and impacts personality is something most of us will experience, but it is not something any of us has been trained to handle.

This program offers a space to share, brainstorm, and foster hope.

And quite honestly, it is a lifeline.

All of this is only possible because the library has an amazing program manager dedicated to services for older adults.

This staff capacity allows for the kind of outreach, partnerships, and relationship-building programs like Books and Beats requires.

I'm glad to see more funding for program and outreach staffing included in the levy proposal.

and an amendment from Council Members Foster and Juarez.

Thank you so much for supporting more access to library programs for people like me.

Thank you, Dorothy.

All right.

I see David Haynes doesn't look present, so we'll go.

We actually have one more in-person speaker, Sarah Tranum.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Sarah Tranum.

I am a resident of District 3 and a lifelong bookworm who uses the Central Library and the Capitol Hill branches.

Rarely a day goes by, and I'm not exaggerating, where I'm not either at a library using the website or attending an event.

We're so lucky to have this wonderful and really inclusive community spaces and these services for those of us who are housed and those of us who are unhoused.

Because I care so much about the library and our diverse community needs when using them, I attended the first hearing on the 2026 levy proposal.

I'm new to attending these city council meetings, and it was super interesting, especially about SPL's budget needs in order to expand multilingual and age-appropriate services, and I loved hearing each of your own library stories.

Clearly, you all value the library and heard the community support to increase the levy budgets.

I know it's hard to work within these budgets, and it's actually probably nice to have something that's not particularly contentious when you have this audience.

So I had to come back today to add my voice to say a very quick thank you to Councilmember Rink, Councilmember Foster, Councilmember Lin, and Strauss.

Each of your amendments are just so, so, so important.

Councilmember Rivera for your leadership on this process.

I really, truly appreciate your hearing us and for all of your and your team's hard work on behalf of our library and our city.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right.

I don't see David Haynes present.

That was our last registered speaker.

I'm sorry?

That was our last registered speaker.

Great.

All right.

There are no additional registered speakers then.

The public comment period is now closed.

We'll proceed to our items of business.

Will the clerk please read item one into the record?

Agenda item one, council bill 121181, an ordinance relating to property taxes, providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the city at an election to be held on August 4th, 2026, of a proposition authorizing the city to levy regular property taxes for up to seven years in excess of the limitation on levies in chapter 8455 RCW for the purpose of sustaining investments in library operating hours, collections, technology, programming, and maintenance, while expanding access to opportunity through library materials, technology, and undertaking a seismic retrofit of one library facility, and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts, for briefing, discussion, and possible amendments.

All right.

Thank you, Clerk.

Colleagues, thank you, Eric, for coming up to the table.

Colleagues and members of the public who are here in person, thank you for your public comment.

For those of you that gave public comment, and to the folks watching on the Seattle channel, thank you for your time today.

This levy proposal is important in many ways, and I appreciate your attention.

Before we hear from central staff on the actual amendments being offered, I want to acknowledge the letter that the Library Foundation sent to all of us advocating for increases to the proposed levy and which formed the basis for many of your amendments.

I appreciate the foundation's work to both collect donations and apply for grants on behalf of the library.

Some of the voters that support this levy, in fact, will also send personal donations to the library, and I very much appreciate all their contributions.

This is how much we all care for our libraries here in Seattle.

However, we also need to acknowledge that the additions that were requested by the foundation would take this levy to almost half a billion dollars.

The mayor's thoughtful proposal of $410 million, which I supported, is already 50% larger than the 2019 levy, even after accounting for inflation.

That is a substantial amount and really speaks to the commitment and support for our libraries.

Should they pass as written, these amendments we'll be discussing today would add about $58 million to the mayor's proposal for a levy totaling $468 million.

And we have a couple of amendments in front of us today that don't yet have numbers attached, so the total might end up even larger.

This would bring us that much closer to the city's levy cap.

With the proposed levy, our levy cap over the next seven years would allow for $310 million for other purposes, including future levy renewals.

This means, for instance, that in 2030, when we have a renewal of the housing levy, we would only have $310 million or less to add to that levy after accounting for inflation.

And then what would be left for the next levy, which is FEPP?

and the following, which is transportation, and so on and so forth until we reach the lid.

If we tack on an additional $58 million now to this levy before us today, the levy cap would be reduced to $252 million rather than that $310 million.

One can see how any additions would truly diminish our levy capacity into the future and box us into a corner.

At some point, colleagues, the music will stop and someone won't have a chair.

Will that be the housing levy, the FEP levy, the transportation levy?

These levies are all in competition with each other given our reality.

We had a thoughtful question last week about the 10% reserve that is built into the levy cap.

and if that might be overly cautious.

10% was used because that is the most pronounced drop in property values during the Great Recession.

Best practice is to use that number because that did occur.

As we all know, today our country is in a very volatile state.

We are at war.

And the fiscal impacts from this war will not necessarily be visible until sometime next year.

If property values decline, for instance, in response to a war-driven recession, we will still need to raise the same amount called for in this levy.

In order to raise the same amount, we would need to use more of the remaining levy cap, which would bring us closer to reaching that limit.

All of these points were taken into consideration when this package was put forward.

Therefore, I cannot in good conscience support any additions to this levy.

Not because I do not love libraries, because I do.

And wish we could give more.

But because at already 50% more than inflation, it is fiscally irresponsible to increase the proposal given the city's other needs.

It is unfortunate that this is the city's financial reality.

And I take no joy in bringing this up.

But this is where we are.

Now let's hear about these amendments.

Eric McConaughey, thank you for being our trustee central staffer who's supporting our work.

I very much appreciate your support of my office during the shepherding of the levy.

Thank you for being here today.

Colleagues, what we'll do is we're going to have Eric introduce each levy amendment one at a time, and then I'll recognize the sponsor to speak to their amendment.

And then I'll open it up to questions from colleagues, and then we'll move on to the next amendment.

Eric?

Good morning, council members.

My name is Eric McConaughey, just for the record, on the council's central staff.

And on the screen now is the list of the 11 amendments.

We'll probably move away from that as we step through them, and I'll do my best to show the page from the amendment on the screen as we go.

And as the chair said, I'll just do a very simple read from a portion of the amendment, the same portion from each, and then step out of the way and let the sponsor of the amendment speak to it.

Does that sound all right?

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you, Eric.

Fantastic, yeah.

So the first amendment is the central library renovation.

It's sponsored by Councilmember Foster.

With this amendment, council would intend that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the mayor and increased by $10 million by the council should be authorized for investments to support maintenance for completing major renovation at the central library.

Thank you, Eric.

Sorry.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Foster, you're recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you so much, Chair.

I appreciate that.

And thank you, Eric.

And a lot of gratitude to all of our fantastic public commenters this morning.

We really appreciate you coming down and spending the time to share with us.

So I'll speak to this amendment.

This is $10 million for the Central Library to be used for renovation.

Colleagues, part of the reason that I'm bringing this amendment forward is in response to what we've heard Chief Librarian Fay say in this committee several times in regards to the fact that what we all think of as a landmark for our city, the Central Library.

And I know that when we walk in there, we see the glass and we see the incredible architecture and we think of it as a new library.

And by the time that this levy ends, this library will be reaching its 30-year mark.

And so it's incredibly important that we make investments in renovation and maintenance for that library today so that we are not looking back and seeing a ton of deferred maintenance and ongoing issues that could occur at the library there.

The other reason I wanted to bring this forward is that there's a really just fantastic space in the Central Library.

as I'm sure many of us have already been there as patrons or visitors.

And I'll just share a couple of numbers.

So last year, there were 67,000 checkouts just from the Children's Center in the Central Library.

And 84% of those checkouts happened in person.

So this is a really important location for children and families in our city.

And ensuring that we have maintenance investments there and renovation investments will allow it to continue serving children and families in our city.

So, colleagues, I'm happy to bring this forward and ask for your support.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Any questions?

Colleagues?

All right, then let's move on to the Second Amendment.

Eric, please.

The Second Amendment is multilingual play and learn and English for speakers of other languages programs.

The sponsor is Foster.

The cosponsor is Councilmember Juarez.

By this amendment, council would intend that a portion of the library funding amount is transmitted by the mayor and increased by $4.5 million by the council should be authorized for investments to support operating hours and access by expanding multilingual play and learn programs and English for speakers of other languages programs to additional library branches.

Council Member Foster.

Thank you, Eric.

Council Member Foster, you're recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you so much, Chair.

And I will actually be first reading a statement from Councilmember Juarez, who was unable to attend today but is a co-sponsor.

So this is in her voice.

Colleagues, today I am asking you to support Councilmember Foster's amendment, of which I am a co-sponsor, to support the expansion of the Kaleidoscope Play and Learn program.

District 5 has three libraries, Lake City, Northgate, and Broadview Bitter Lake.

However, the kaleidoscope program is only offered at the Lake City branch and is currently only offered in English.

The Lake City Library is next door to a soon-to-be-built community center with 113 units of family housing that includes a preschool program on site.

The Lehigh Tony Lee Apartments is one block away with 69 units of housing and a Rewa preschool on the first floor.

There are seven other preschools in the area, including a bilingual English and Mandarin preschool.

Near the Northgate Library, just two blocks away, the Nook at North Haven has 87 units of intergenerational living with a Riwa preschool on the first floor.

Next door to the library, the East African Elders Community Lunch at the Northgate Community Center is held.

And at the Broadview Library, where it's one block away from Broadview Thompson K-8, where there are 140 students enrolled in the ELL program at the school, and our students speak 32 different languages.

We welcome opportunities to work with city departments such as DEAL and the Seattle Preschool Program, REWA, and other community organizations such as North Helpline.

District 5 is diverse and needs diverse services to support young families.

Thank you for your consideration.

As always, Councilmember Juarez, with the details.

We appreciate that.

So, colleagues, I'm bringing this amendment forward to allow for the expansion of the Kaleidoscope Play and Learn program.

It would support expansion for up to two locations.

And after conversations with libraries, we know that they'll be applying their equity prioritization filter to that.

But it is likely that we will see an outcome that brings more investment into North Seattle, where, as you heard from those talking points from Councilmember Juarez, there is just beautiful, diverse communities who could be supported by this program.

This amendment would also cover expansion of the ESOL program.

that serves families who have multilingual needs.

So colleagues, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Colleagues, any questions or comments?

Seeing none, I'll just say I want to ask Eric.

So really just to level set us again, we're adding with these amendments, We would be adding funding, but it is the library board that gets to dictate where this funding actually goes.

I'm only asking because these are very specific ads.

I just want to ground us in the reality of who's actually making the decisions and just expectations on whether or not this funding has to be used in this way.

That's correct.

The way that these amendments are crafted is to show intention, show the increase to the levy should the amendment pass, and then to show the council's intention for how the funds would be authorized.

Yes, but intention doesn't mean that we get to dictate.

We're letting the library board know what we would like to see.

That's correct.

Okay, thank you for confirming that.

And then also with this particular, these programs are already in the levy.

This would be an expansion of those.

That's correct.

And also, I can take questions today.

I can follow up with more specifics as we go along.

Yeah.

Thank you, Eric.

Appreciate that.

Okay.

Amendment number three.

Amendment number three is sponsored by Councilmember Foster.

With this amendment, Council would intend that a portion of the library funding amount as transmitted by the Mayor and increased by $4,060,000 by the Council should be authorized for investments to support operating hours and access by expanding resource navigation with four additional full-time equivalent community resource specialists and upgrading security badge access at the central branch.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Foster, you're recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Chair.

I am introducing this as a way to ensure that the libraries have the adequate staffing for our community resource specialists.

As we've heard earlier today, libraries are important places for children and for families and for the general public.

They serve as a third place.

And that includes our neighbors who may need information about relevant community services, food access, or other needs.

And the community resource specialists play an important role ensuring that information is available to members of the public who need it.

And I believe that's a critical part of ensuring that our libraries are the important third places that we want them to be.

So, colleagues, this is an amendment that would increase the staffing capacity for those community resource specialists.

This would also allow us to provide badge access to the downtown library for members of the Seattle care team to ensure that we have, as we all know, the care team is allowed to operate in libraries per the MOU and would allow them the opportunity to explore a deeper partnership with our libraries.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Colleagues, any questions or comments?

Eric, I have a quick question, which is, can you just confirm how many community resource specialists the library currently has that would be continued?

Yeah, and with your indulgence, because I have a lot of numbers in my head, I'm gonna fade back to Kirsten.

So three total.

One more levy, thank you.

Thank you for allowing me to do that.

So two total, and one of those is funded with levy funds currently.

What's the third one I just said?

No, I'm sorry, two total.

I made the same goof, yeah.

Two total community resource specialists.

One of those positions is funded with levy funds currently.

So two total, not three.

Correct.

Great, thank you for confirming.

All right, let's move on to Amendment 4.

Oops.

Amendment 4. This is sponsored by Councilmember Lin.

In this amendment, through this amendment, Council would intend that a portion of the library funding amount as transmitted by the Mayor and increased by $15 million by the Council should be authorized for investments to support maintenance by one, completing the repair, replacement, or upgrades of cooling systems for all library branches, and two, addressing deferred maintenance.

Thank you, Eric.

Council Member Lin, you're recognized to speak.

Sorry, I was going to say Foster, but it's your turn now.

Just kidding.

Your turn now.

Bringing levity this morning, I'm trying.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you to all the members of the public and to our library folks here.

So as we all know, with climate change, extreme heats are becoming more severe in our region.

We have 27 branches which provide quiet, safe refuge for our communities, including from extreme heat.

Seattle Public Library has worked hard to improve cooling systems across most branches, but we have five sites remaining.

And given some uncertainty around federal funding, cost overruns that we have seen in the past, this amendment is one, meant to ensure that there will be sufficient funds to complete those projects, and two, also for priority and deferred maintenance.

We know that with 27 locations, with many aging facilities, the $10 million that was included is not going to be sufficient for the deferred maintenance needs.

And we know that those costs to complete deferred maintenance are only going to go up.

And so I see it as necessary and responsible to ensure that we have the funds to complete those sooner at a lower cost that needed, even at $15 million I'm concerned that that's probably not going to be enough to meet the full needs of the deferred maintenance.

And with that, happy to respond to any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Lin.

Colleagues, any questions, comments?

I just want to confirm, Eric, that I know libraries, Chief Fay told us that you have the funding to do the additional five libraries that need that need the cooling, that need the HVAC upgrades, correct?

Yeah, the chief librarian, Tom Fay, shared that with us at the last meeting.

There is some uncertainty around some of those funds, and so my understanding, without putting words in the sponsor's mouth, is that this is meant to address that uncertainty and then secondarily to deal with deferred maintenance.

But I should probably stop, because now I'm wading into the sponsor's territory.

Yeah.

That's correct.

Thank you.

I did not hear uncertainty.

I heard that we had secured a FEMA grant for those five libraries that need the HVAC.

That might be best for me to follow up or to...

Great.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Eric.

All right, colleagues.

Amendment number five.

Excuse me.

Amendment number five is sponsored by Councilmember Rink, and this amendment would show Council's intention that a portion of the levy amount is transmitted by the mayor and increased by $15 million by the Council, should be authorized for investments to support maintenance by renovating historic library branch to improve seismic safety, reduce the use of fossil fuels, and upgrade publicly available space.

All right.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Rink, you're recognized to address your amendment.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Eric, and thank you to everyone who turned out to provide public comment today.

I just loved hearing the positivity and passion for our libraries.

It was certainly a great way to start the day.

And let me know if you want to come by full council at 2 o'clock.

Fantastic to hear from you.

Colleagues, Amendment Number 5 is pertaining to $15 million for a seismic retrofit of a historic branch for our libraries.

This levy gives the city an opportunity to ensure our libraries can continue to serve our neighborhoods for generations to come.

But our oldest branches, the historic Carnegie Libraries, are decades overdue for seismic retrofitting.

And that's a community safety issue.

We have capacity to add at least one additional branch to the slate of large capital projects for this levy period.

My understanding is that after Columbia City Library retrofitting, which is already in process, the next libraries in the queue for URM are West Seattle and then Queen Anne.

And we know that the best time to seismically retrofit unreinforced masonry buildings is before the last earthquake, but the second best time is right now.

The library is ready right now to plan and manage another project.

Our amazing local unions are ready right now to build it, and our community is ready to see us invest in it right now.

So I look forward to working with you all to make this happen.

Let's get our local builders to work making every branch in every neighborhood safer as quickly as we can.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Rink.

Colleagues, any questions or comments?

All right.

Amendment 6.

Amendment 6 is sponsored by Councilmember Rink.

It is electronic materials...

Let me try that again.

Electronic materials and collection staffing.

I think that's why we say e-books instead of electronic books, because that keeps me from stumbling on it.

So electronic materials and collection staffing.

This amendment would intend that a portion of the library funding amount as transmitted by the mayor and increased by $6,400,000 by the council should be authorized for investments to support collections by expanding...

Here we go.

By expanding the electronic materials, e-books, and e-audiobooks collection, and increasing collection staffing.

Customer rank, sorry for stumbling through that, but there you have it.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Rink, you're recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Eric.

Yes, I'll be referring to this as e-books.

Colleagues, we've heard loud and clear from the library, the Library Foundation, and from so many of our amazing public commenters today and those who came last week that the demand on our collection is high.

The demand for e-books and digital media is far outpacing our beloved library's ability to keep up.

The levy as transmitted allows us to maintain status quo, but as adjusted for inflation, but that status quo is not meeting the pressures of bookflation.

We're already in the top 10 worldwide in digital book checkouts, and our highly literate population is still rapidly growing.

So this amendment would give the library the financial and human resources needed to keep our digital collections to meet this moment and better serve readers across the city.

And I ask for your support.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

Colleagues, any questions or comments?

All right, amendment eight.

Pardon me, I think it's Amendment 7, Chair.

All right, sorry.

Amendment 7. Okay, fantastic.

Amendment 7 is sponsored by Councilmember Rank.

With this, the Council would intend that a portion of the levy funding amount as transmitted by the Mayor and increased by $2.5 million by the Council should be authorized for investments to support collections by expanding the peak pick titles in the library's e-book collection.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Ring?

Oh, yes, you're recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Eric.

Colleagues, this amendment is a smaller, more targeted collections investment.

The peak picks table is the first thing you see when you walk into the library in just about every branch.

It features the books that everyone is talking about.

The newest title reviewed by Paul Constan from the Seattle Times, the latest masterpiece from your favorite local author.

Currently, peak picks is limited to physical books.

This amendment would expand that incredible responsive program to e-books.

And as I noted a few minutes ago, actually, probably maybe a minute ago, Seattle Public Library is in the top 10 worldwide in digital book checkouts.

We're a city of book people, so let's get people their e-books.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

Colleagues, any questions or comments?

Then I think we're at Amendment 8.

Amendment number eight is sponsored by Councilmember Strauss.

Through this amendment, Council would intend that a portion of the funding amount as transmitted by the Mayor and increased by a placeholder amount by the Council should be authorized for investments to support operating hours and access by expanding library programming made available live and recorded via the Seattle Channel.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Strauss, you're recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Chair.

And if I may speak to all four of my amendments first.

Generally, because everyone might notice that I have dollar-figure placeholders in each of my amendments.

Councilmember Strauss, should we then have Eric run through the remainder and then you can address all of them?

No, let's stick with this.

I'll just kind of give an overview as to why I have placeholders and we can run through them one by one if that's all right.

You want to give...

Sorry, I just want to know the order here.

You want to speak holistically to all four and then have Eric run one by one and then speak to them individually?

I just want to make sure what the order is.

Yes, please.

Okay.

You are recognized and we'll go back to the...

Fantastic.

So the amendment that we have before us and the following three all have dollar figure placeholders.

And that is because the Washington state tax code does not allow us to collect property tax beyond 1%, which means that each of our dollars that we collect through property tax do not keep up with inflation.

And so we are at a moment right now where we're up against the levy lid and I know each of these programs are incredibly important to continue moving forward in this conversation.

And so the reason that we have, I have had to put, fill in the dollar figure this week working with colleagues is because of our Washington state tax code.

Plainly every dollar that we receive goes less far than it did the year before.

because 1% is less than inflation every single year.

Our limit on the property tax means we're expected to provide the same or better services each year with dollars that don't go as far as they did even that year before.

In Seattle, we've circumvented this 1% property tax collection cap by going directly to Seattle voters.

and Seattleites for those additional property tax levies.

In the beginning of this experience with going directly to Seattleites for approval on the things that we all know that we all want, it was really all capital funding.

But as the 1% limit continued to undercut our city's ability to provide the basic operating expenditures that everyday Seattleites want, we started adding operating into our levies.

just so that we can keep up with inflation and growing population.

And as we've heard, even these voter-approved levies have a cap that we are now running into.

The state legislature has the power to release us from the 1% property tax limit, and they can release us from the levy lid as well.

They have considered it before, and they have not helped us.

They have put us in this position.

I share this overview of all four of my amendments because this levy is the first to suffer from these limits and the families, the people, the entrepreneurs, the everyday Seattleites that use and rely on our levies are the first to suffer from this tax code that the state legislature has put upon us.

I say this because each of my amendments have dollar-figure placeholders because it's really important for me to push as far as we can and to be fiscally responsible to the following levies who have to keep up with inflation and increase services.

I have never seen a levy come back to us that did not add services, and appropriately so.

With a growing population from the time that I was learning to read at the Ballard Library, we have nearly doubled the population of our city.

This levy lid is real and has real impacts on every single levy we have.

And right now, our libraries and Seattle families are the first to lose out because of our state's tax code.

But with that, I'm here to push as far as we can with what we have in front of us so that we're fiscally responsible and that we're responsible to our everyday Seattleites who are relying on our levies.

So let's come back to each of my amendments.

Eric has read in my first...

About the Seattle Channel.

Yep, that's correct.

Do you need, can I address it, or do you need to address it?

You can address it because Eric's already addressed it.

So why don't we go with eight, your comments, and then we'll go back to Eric.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

And so talking about the award-winning Seattle Channel specifically, colleagues, as you may remember, there was a moment a few years ago where Seattle Channel's future was in peril.

in not a different way than what we're experiencing right now.

We have been able to move from that moment using the bridge funding that we provided that I amended the budget and the council agreed.

And that bridge funding allowed for the Seattle Channel Funding Task Force to meet and provide recommendations.

They landed on the recommendation Seattle Channel should be located within the library system and funded through a braided system, but really heavily relying on this levy.

Colleagues, as you may remember from the Comcast contract we passed just a few weeks ago, that contract is bringing in fewer and fewer dollars because there are fewer and fewer cable users.

That's a reality in which led to this Seattle Channel funding issue a few years ago.

The library levy was viewed as potentially a single solution, if not to be a major part of the solution for sustainable funding for the award-winning Seattle Channel.

And then, as I mentioned just before, our state's tax code limitations came into play, limiting our ability to sustainably fund the Seattle Channel through this levy.

And the pivot that we have had to make across the board for all of Seattle Channel's funding is are two things.

One, leveraging their award-winning ability to record, document, produce, and share the content that, whether it's from arts and culture, our archivists, the work that the Woodland Park Zoo does, or in this case, the great work that the libraries do, using Seattle Channel's already-built central service to our city to be able to expand the access to that programming.

So if each of many departments in our city are using Seattle Channel services more, Seattle Channel becomes more well-funded as a central service.

And the recipients are really the ones to win.

In this case, This amendment would extend the impact and audience for Seattle Public Library programs such as readings, the speaker series, special events.

I don't know if we're gonna have the author out here reading about Lake City, and I still have your signed copy of the book in the office right now, or we're gonna have kids' talks or kids' books, but what stuns me is how amazing the library's programming is. and how if it is not recorded and shared, it's just that moment in time.

And so this amendment before us would extend the impact of the programs the levy is already providing by using the existing infrastructure of the Seattle Channel to really broaden the reach of the library's great programs.

So I'd love to earn your support and I'll be working with each of you to understand what the funding level is most appropriate.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Colleagues, questions, comments?

All right, moving on to Amendment 9.

Amendment number nine is sponsored by Councilmember Strauss.

This amendment would show Council's intention that a portion of the library levy funding amount is transmitted by the Mayor and increased by a placeholder amount by the Council should be authorized for investments to support maintenance by improving physical accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act and by repairing or replacing elevators and escalators.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Strauss, you're recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you.

If you can't access the library, you can't use it.

I mean, it's just that simple.

If the elevator from the parking garage where the ADA parking spot is can't get you to the first floor, the only way into the library is over the internet.

And if you don't have the internet, if you're going to go check out your mobile hotspot, then you really are limited in so many different ways.

And so this is, if we did not have the state's regressive and punitive tax code on our hands, this would be an area that I would, fund at a level that takes care of the entire backlog and adds some, because we know that over the life of this levy, there will be more issues.

But it's really important for me that we do as much as we can to increase the ability for people to get in the front door.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Any comments or questions from colleagues?

All right, Eric, I think we're at Amendment 10.

Amendment 10 is sponsored by Councilmember Strauss.

Through this amendment, Council would intend that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the mayor and increased by a placeholder amount should be authorized for investments to support collections by increasing acquisition of new titles and additional copies in various physical and digital formats.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Strauss, you're recognized to address your amendment.

Thank you.

If we don't have books, we just have a building.

All right.

I mean, it's really, again, that simple, where if we are not able to purchase, and I keep calling it circulations, but I think it's called collections, and maybe this is from, maybe I was not a good employee of the library in which I was the front desk clerk for, but it was in those moments getting to watch how people, how that one book would come and go, come and go, come and go, and that is a true, pure public good because we are making a one-time purchase for a public good that is then shared and shared and shared and shared.

So this is another area that if we don't have books, we just have a building.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Colleagues, comments or questions?

All right, Eric, I think we are at the last amendment, Amendment 11.

Number 11, Councilmember Strauss is the sponsor.

With this amendment, the Council would intend that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the mayor and increased by a placeholder amount by the Council should be authorized for investments to support operating hours and access by contracting for safety ambassadors or outreach workers to serve on Seattle Public Library property.

Thank you, Eric.

Council Member Strauss, you're recognized to address your amendments.

Thank you.

This amendment really is through a conversation with Councilmember Foster where I think we're going to continue working together to merge our different ideas, so probably only one would move forward, but we'll continue working through it.

This really, Councilmember Foster's amendment as well as this amendment really address the fact that a decade ago, or I guess even the last time that the levy was passed, was a time where the City of Seattle was doing a very poor job of providing social services to the people experiencing emergencies, crisis, and oftentimes homelessness on our streets.

It was at a time when we relied on the navigation team that led with police and had caseworkers somewhere behind, whereas today we have the unified care team that leads with social workers and the police are somewhere behind.

And so just making that shift in how we provide We now have the crisis response.

We now have the care team that we didn't have before.

We now have HealthONE, at least in many parts of the city that we didn't have before.

We have the crisis care centers opening up throughout the county.

We have additional mobile crisis units that are deployed in our city and throughout our county.

There are just so many ways that the front door of receiving services have changed in the last decade, and I want to make sure but the library is keeping up with that and being able to be responsive to those changes.

For instance, we have what is called the Seattle Neighborhood Impact Framework that is operating in a number of different neighborhoods in our city that takes the highest level case manager, the highest level social service providers and case conferences the people who are in that geographic space.

It is a great way that the library could potentially to be included and interacted.

Sorry if my comments are a little jumbled.

There seems to be a lot of activity here in the council chambers at the moment.

But all that to say is there might be a way right now where we update the library to be able to fit into the existing and expanded social service network that we have created over the last few years, rather than trying to get that social service network to fit within the constructs of the library.

So all conversation to continue.

and happy to have that conversation.

Chair, that's about all I've got right now.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

Colleagues, any comments or questions?

All right.

Colleagues, a couple things.

One is I want to acknowledge that Council President has been here since before we started talking about the amendment.

So that was my, I was remiss in not acknowledging her earlier.

And then I just need a minute to confer on next steps for today's meeting.

So if you'll just hang tight for a minute, I appreciate that.

Apologies, colleagues.

We're going to take a five-minute recess.

It's 1029, so we'll recess to 1034. I just need to get a consult from our clerks on next steps for this meeting.

Thank you.

And then we're gonna start by doing roll call again.

Thank you for your patience and to everyone in the audience and watching on the Seattle channel.

All right, Council Member Lynn.

Present.

Council Member Rink.

Present.

Council Member Saca.

Here.

Council Member Strauss.

Here.

Council Member Foster.

Here.

Council Member Kettle.

Vice Chair Hollingsworth?

Here.

Chair Rivera?

Present.

We have seven council members present.

Thank you, clerk.

Thank you, everyone, for your patience.

The reason I recessed was just to get a consult from our clerk.

three proposed amendments from my colleague and friend, Councilmember Saka, but they are not before us on paper, and I wanted to make sure that I had the proper instructions for how to read them into the record and have my colleague be able to speak to them.

So what we'll do is, they're in concept, so they will be better flushed out in time for our vote on the 8th, So today we'll have Eric speak to the concept for each of the three, like we did the last.

We'll do one at a time, and we'll have my colleague, Councilmember Saca, speak to his amendments.

Thank you so much for the grace while we figured that out.

Eric, so now we're at Amendment 12.

This is Amendment 12, sponsored by Councilmember Saka.

This amendment would intend that a portion of the library funding amount, as transmitted by the mayor, should be authorized for investments to support technology services by providing digital skilling programs for teens offered at the South Park and High Point branch libraries.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Saka, you're recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and first and foremost, I do, Chair, want to apologize to you on the record for the latency on my end and the sort of surprise nature of these.

They're not walk-ons because we're not voting, but putting you under the pressure for coordinating with the clerks, that's my bad.

My apologies.

I own that.

Did not at all intend any of that.

And also apologies to people waiting and had to take that five-minute recess.

But good news is we're trying to do more for our libraries with these three amendments.

High level, I'll just share just kind of overview.

These three amendments, well, none of these three proposed amendments would add funding or additional costs to the levy.

We just clarify Council's intent on specific funding and programs that are already available.

And so the first one here we talked about, and also I should clarify, I was probably the first council member of office to get my amendment concepts in about a month, month and a half ago, but due to an administrative error on my end, was unable to meet the publication deadline yesterday.

And again, I own that, mea culpa, my apologies.

In any event, here we are, the three, starting first with making sure that we support digital skilling programs and initiatives, call out some specific illustrative examples of branches in my district that I would like to to see some of these programs being launched from, but this is illustrative only, and the library system and the board would obviously be free to build upon this list and other areas in need, but the basic notion here is that Seattle Public Libraries offers a wide range of digital skilling opportunities and technology-related learning resources to help provide to help people build confidence and competence in today's digital world.

So these opportunities are mostly free, For cardholders, and many are self-paced online resources as well as in-person classes or support, we know that in my district, South Park and High Point ranches are neighborhoods that have lower rates of home internet access and fewer personal computers or devices compared with more affluent areas of Seattle.

This creates barriers to online learning, job applications, government services, telehealth, and other essential digital skills, activities, and initiatives.

That's precisely why this digital skilling effort is needed in these neighborhoods and probably more.

So that's what this proposed amendment seeks to address and accomplish and hope to have your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Saka.

Colleagues, questions, comments?

All right, then we'll go to amendment number 13, Eric.

Also sponsored by Council Member Saka, this amendment would intend that a portion of the library funding amount as transmitted by the mayor should be authorized for investments to support hours and access and collections by contracting with the Washington State Black Legacy Institute for programming that celebrates and preserves the rich history of Washington State's black communities and offers a powerful tribute to black resilience, leadership, and cultural contributions.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Sachar, you're recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Chair.

Colleagues, if you have not yet, and members of the public, if you have not yet had the opportunity to visit the historic Washington State Black Legacy Institute in my council district in West Seattle, in the historic Admiral District neighborhood, please do check it out.

It is a community treasure, not of West Seattle significance or importance, not of the city of Seattle significance or importance, but it has statewide significance and importance and impact.

We're proud to have it in my council district in West Seattle.

Again, a statewide museum institution that honors black contributions across our entire state.

So what this amendment would do is it would signal, clarify council's intent to provide funding to support hours and access and collections by contracting with WSBLI for programming that celebrates and preserves the rich history of Washington State's black communities.

Again, the WSBLI is a newly established cultural and historic institution located in the Historic Admiral District in West Seattle.

Opened a little over a year ago in February 2025, after years of planning, WSBOI exists to collect, preserve, interpret, and share the history and legacy of black people in Washington state, including descendants of slaves.

Its work is rooted in the idea that understanding and honoring the past strengthens the community's present and future.

Seattle Public Library's Museum Pass program gives SPL card holders free admission to certain museums and cultural sites around Seattle currently, including terrific organizations like the Wing Luke Museum, the Seattle Aquarium, and others.

The cost of administration there is generally covered, so support from the levy will allow the WSBUI to promote their mission citywide.

while securing needed funding.

Ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Saka.

Colleagues, questions, comments?

All right, Eric, on to Amendment 14.

Amendment 14 is sponsored by Council Member Saka, and with this, Council would intend that by approving the levy amount as transmitted by the Mayor, funding should be allocated to support maintenance for renovating the historic West Seattle Library Branch for seismic safety, fossil fuel reduction, upgrades to publicly available space, and accelerating the improvements to physical accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Saka, you are recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Chair.

So this amendment, again, as Eric noted, clarifies Council's intent that funding be allocated to support maintenance and renovation of the historic West Seattle Library Branch for seismic safety, fossil fuel reduction, upgrades to publicly available space, and accelerating the improvements to physical accessibility under the ADA at, again, the historic West Seattle Branch Library.

This specific branch is one of Seattle's original Carnegie Libraries, funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

The branch opened in 1910, making it one of the oldest still operating library buildings in our entire city.

It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated historic landmark.

Like all buildings of similar age, the West Seattle branch is in dire need of upgrades and renovations to continue to serve as a safe, reliable resource for our community.

This amendment is apparently complementary with other proposed amendments as well, just signaling explicitly that we want the West Seattle branch to be prioritized for these dire needs of upgrades.

Thank you.

I ask for your support.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka.

Colleagues, I'm going to go to Councilmember Foster.

I think perhaps you had your hand up and I didn't see it for the last one.

Thank you so much, Chair.

No worries at all.

And thank you so much, Council Member Saka, for walking us through those amendments.

I had a couple just clarifying questions.

I'm like a visual person, so please bear with me.

Thank you.

So for the Black Legacy Institute, am I correct in understanding that your intent with this is to have the Black Legacy Institute included in the, I'm forgetting the name of it, but the passport program, the museum pass program, that's the intent behind that.

Is that correct?

That would be ideal, or other contracting opportunities that would allow the WSBLI to benefit from a $410 currently million dollar library levy as well, while making the community treasure that they offer more available and accessible to all.

Got it, thank you.

And then I just wanted to make sure for the First Amendment, I'm kind of not in order here, but for the First Amendment that you walked through in terms of digital skilling, did you say the South Park and High Point branches?

Correct.

Did I get you correct there?

That's right.

Okay, thank you.

And then my overall question is, these are all budget-neutral ads.

You didn't say you had a placeholder.

budget neutral.

That's right.

And I'm curious, and maybe this is a follow-up for central staff, if we know that any of these are sort of already planned or within the scope of the levy, or if they would require shifting or impacts to other planned work that's within the levy.

Thank you.

I have some initial thoughts on that.

I welcome central staff, Eric, the opportunity to weigh in as well.

But certainly on the kind of museum pass, the WSBI, and the other one, which is the digital skill initiatives, those are existing programs and services that are offered today.

So based off of my conversations with the library, other community stakeholders, those would already be within the purview of something that is authorized to be covered.

And so the intent of my amendments is to make crystal clear, you know, that in the case of the digital skilling initiative, like we want these these two branches at a minimum to be considered in High Point and South Park, and then WLSBI, again, to be able to benefit from an existing program as well.

Is there a question there that's not standing?

Should I maybe connect for a follow up on that?

Is that appropriate?

Yes, I'll follow up.

Thank you so much, Chair.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Saka.

Of course, Councilmember Foster.

Councilmember Rank, I see your hand up.

You're recognized.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Councilmember Saka.

I'm glad we were able to have these heard in committee and in concept today, just for the purposes of moving along this very quick process.

I'm wondering, just for the purposes of moving forward, because I too am a visual person, when will we see these amendments?

Maybe this is a question for Eric, when will we and the public see these amendments in writing?

Well, this is a little bit novel, but my understanding is because they've been in committee, we'll attach them to the agenda after this meeting, because that's generally what we do with materials that are presented at the committee, so that will make them available.

And then going forward, they'll be available to the public and subject to your discussion in ongoing committee meeting, right?

So yeah.

Does that help?

Yeah.

They will be available starting today after this meeting because they will be attached to the agenda.

Okay.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Of course.

Of course.

Thank you for the question.

All right.

And, you know, I did want to make a comment about Councilmember Saka's ads.

They don't have funding attached to them.

I recognize them as your intent to ensure that as the library board is making decisions along with Chief Fay about the library's budget, that they're taking the things that you have raised in these amendments into account.

Because again, it is the library board who's actually making the funding decisions.

So that's what I'm understanding your intent to be.

But you can clarify for me.

Right.

Okay.

Thank you, Council Member Saka.

And I think it's appropriate for us to let the library board know formally as they're making these decisions, you know, the things that our constituents care about and that we all care about.

So, all right.

Okay.

I think that is the last amendment, unless colleagues?

No?

For the cheap seats in the back?

No?

Just kidding.

All right.

Well, that takes care of all the amendments.

Colleagues, I want to make a couple points before I wrap up today's meeting.

Thank you for sticking with us, members of the public and online.

I heard a couple things here and I just wanted to comment about the reminder that property taxes are not just paid by our homeowners, they're paid by our renters as well because property tax increases generally get passed to homeowners and I mean to renters and I think we don't always think about that.

We do have a huge affordability issue in this city and so we need to be mindful of the ads that we make as also impacting our renters.

And I want to say toward the affordability piece, I don't know if anyone saw today's Seattle Times article about Seattle being the sixth most expensive city to live in in the United States.

and then a separate article also in today's Seattle Times about gas prices hitting $4 nationally.

And of course, I was surprised to hear that because in Seattle, it is close to $6 a gallon.

So I say all these things.

These are realities.

And I think someone raised earlier about the positivity.

I'm not trying to couch this in a not positive way.

I actually think I find We're at a place with putting this levy on the ballot as a very positive thing.

We all care about libraries and we want to make sure that this levy continues.

If a levy doesn't continue, funding will be cut and we won't be able to do any of the things.

So I understand these amendments are really additive to what we are already including in the libraries, and I understand the intent and the desire to do so.

And I understand that the foundation is a lobbying group, and I understand that you really want to to speak to the interests of the constituents and I would be doing the same on the other side.

So I say this to say I understand and I hope you understand where I'm coming from in my comments as well because as elected officials We have to worry about all the things.

And while we might super care about one issue, it's our responsibility to make sure all of this city's needs are met, not just some of the needs.

And that makes it really challenging for us.

But nevertheless, I am excited to get this levy to the ballot, whether it's at whatever, you know, whether it's the 410 initially proposed or whatever amendments get passed here, because we need the funding to continue the libraries that we do love.

And I hope that in the process of all this, that folks don't see this as I see it, I hope people understand that we are grappling with this affordability piece in the city and that whether or not folks support amendments or support to keep it at the price that it's at, that people understand writ large that our support for the libraries is deep and strong and we are living sadly in this somewhat still this So I hope that people understand that because it would be unfortunate to move forward with whatever levy gets put on the ballot and we don't have strong support for whatever that is and that everyone understands where we all collectively are coming from in terms of what we are going to support to put forward.

And so that is my way of saying I love the libraries.

I'm excited to get a levy put on the ballot for voters.

I appreciate that the voters have taxed themselves time and again to support our libraries.

And also that it's unfortunate we do have a levy cap situation that we are dealing with.

that will have future impacts for the other things that we're going to have to pass, not in the very long term, but even in a shorter term.

So thank you so much.

Thank you all for being here.

Colleagues, if there are no further questions or comments, and I don't see anyone's hands up, This concludes the March 31st Select Committee on the Library Levy.

Our next Select Committee meeting is a public hearing scheduled for this Thursday, April 2nd at 5.30 p.m.

Following that public hearing, we will have our last scheduled Select Committee meeting next Wednesday, April 8th.

at 9.30 a.m.

where we will vote on all the amendments presented here today, including the last three that we just heard from, and then we'll take, hopefully, a final vote on the package.

And to this end, I'm also gonna say, colleagues, if there are any changes to any amendments or any other proposal, we need to see that sooner than later because I do not want to have on April 8th, a situation where we don't know ahead of time what's getting voted on because we've got to get this on the ballot by August.

We don't have any interruption to any library services.

That is important.

That is key.

And I do not want not to have this levy before voters in August.

Thank you all very much.