Jefferson County’s 380,000 library- card holders probably wouldn’t notice a difference if the public library spins off to operate as a separate district.
The changes would be behind the scenes, say the library’s board members and county librarian, who have been studying the idea for nearly two years.
“It’s not much more than a business decision,” said county librarian Bill Knott. “It would change the library’s relationship with the county in very slight ways.”
Still, the Board of County Commissioners, which will vote on the plan, has concerns. Board members will hear from the public at a Tuesday hearing and discuss whether some thorny technical issues can be worked out.
“The question is whether you can improve services, and can you become more efficient,” Commissioner Kevin McCasky said. “Is it a seamless, transparent impact on our citizens?”
Nearly half of the state’s 114 public libraries operate as districts.
Trustees of the state’s second-largest library system believe the district approach would work in Jeffco by stabilizing funding, putting more focus on providing services and providing more flexibility to adapt to changing service needs.
Administrative costs would be reduced by more than $200,000 annually, Knott said. For example, the county charges the library system $63,000 a year to handle payroll, while a private vendor has said it can do the same for $30,000 to $35,000 a year, he said.
“We can’t say at this moment what the $200,000 would be spent on,” Knott said, but it could buy more books, double the number of homebound people receiving materials or add more senior-citizen stops by the bookmobile.
Library officials believe the district could reap about $700,000 more per year if the current mill levy dedicated to the library — 3.42 mills — is raised to the maximum voter-approved limit of 3.5 mills.
Commissioner Kathy Hartman is among the county officials concerned about how a higher library mill levy would impact the county’s mill levy, and whether it would be tied to the county’s TABOR cap. If the levy is raised to the proposed higher figure, it would mean the owner of a $250,000 house would pay $1.50 more per year in property taxes, she said.
Discussions also continue with Westminster, which has its own library although about 40,000 Westminster residents who live in Jefferson County also are taxed for the Jeffco library.
“They want revenue sharing” to help offset Jeffco library taxes, Knott said of Westminster.
The library district is exploring a $500,000 annual payment to Westminster to assist its library and possibly working with the city to build a library in the northwest area.
Library staff concerns, including higher health-insurance costs, will be presented at Tuesday’s hearing.
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com
