Sno-Isle Libraries Board Puts Levy Restoration on August Ballot

Ninety-one cents of every dollar Sno-Isle Libraries spends on operations comes from the property tax levy, and that funding is now heading to the ballot. The Sno-Isle Libraries Board of Trustees adopted a resolution on March 23 to move forward with a ballot measure that offers to restore the levy rate to $0.47 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

If the levy is approved, the library property tax in Island County will increase by $106.32 per year based on a median home value of $640,100. On Whidbey Island, Sno-Isle has libraries in Oak Harbor, Coupeville, Langley, Freeland and Clinton. The library operations levy is collected by county treasurers in Snohomish and Island counties, and funds are transferred to Sno-Isle Libraries.

The measure is technically a levy lid lift, a mechanism triggered by how state law constrains library district finances over time. The reason the levy rate is currently lower than it was in 2018 is that levy rates naturally fall over time, and library funding is always capped at a 1% increase each year. That cap creates a slow, structural squeeze: costs for staff, utilities, and services climb at their own pace while the revenue base is legally bound to inch upward.

According to Sno-Isle Libraries, "Since 2018, Sno-Isle Libraries has carefully managed our budget to serve our community. But costs and use have increased, and our budget can no longer keep up." The district says it has stretched the last levy restoration further than originally planned. In 2018, library leadership projected the levy would support services for seven years; the district maintained the current levy rate beyond that window despite rising costs and greater demand for its services.

The library district is currently making $75.5 million in revenue, and 91% of that comes from property tax.

The voting opportunity to determine library funding happens every several years, and the last time the library levy was restored was eight years ago. That 2018 vote was itself a narrow affair districtwide, passing with just over 50% of combined ballots from both counties, though nearly 62% of Island County voters cast ballots in favor.

The Sno-Isle Libraries Board of Trustees governs 23 community libraries, online services, Library on Wheels and a service center that collectively serve more than 800,000 residents across Snohomish and Island counties.

The August 4, 2026 ballot will put the question directly to voters across the library district. Sno-Isle Libraries describes the decision as one that "will help shape the future" of the system. Residents seeking more information can visit sno-isle.org/levy.