GOLDEN — The Jefferson County Public Library’s proposal to check out of county government and form a separate district was turned down Tuesday night by the Board of County Commissioners.
Commissioners said a separate library district would end up costing taxpayers.
“It’s very disappointing,” library board chairman Keith Grebe said of the 2-1 vote.
He said the board would decide in the next 30 days whether to take the issue to the county’s voters or approach the county board again next year.
Library officials contend going it alone would save $540,000 annually, of which $200,000 could be realized in reduced administrative costs.
As a district, the library could stabilize its funding and not be subject to the county’s broader financial priorities, while putting more focus on services and providing more flexibility to adapt to service needs, officials said.
Grebe told the commissioners that if the library stays with the county, “the library will be broke in seven years. So we need to do something soon.”
But the county estimates that a new library district would force about $510,000 in administrative and infrastructure costs to be distributed to other county departments.
Those departments then would have to cut services or ask for more money to operate, the county says.
Acting County Attorney Ellen Wakeman raised concerns about the impact on county revenues if the library hiked its tax levy from 3.42 mills to the maximum voter-approved limit of 3.5 mills.
The district proposal also carried with it a $500,000 annual payment by the library system to Westminster — which is partly in Jefferson County and partly in Adams County.
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com
