ELECTION 2026: City Councilmembers enlarge library levy before their second-to-last vote on it
City Councilmembers, meeting today as the Select Committee on the Library Levy, added almost $70 million to the $410 million library levy expansion/renewal proposal received from Mayor Katie Wilson. The levy that’ll go up for a final council vote next Tuesday (April 14) is now $480 billion. Councilmembers approved this list of 11 amendments, including two by District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka, who was not at the meeting; his amendments support “digital skilling” for teens at High Point and South Park libraries and encourage the library system to work with the Admiral-based Washington State Black Legacy Institute. After the amendment votes, the councilmembers spent a relatively lengthy amount of time saying they realize it’s a lot to ask property taxpayers to keep shouldering, and then clarifying that the acknowledgment didn’t mean any of them were anti-library. Ultimately, all seven councilmembers in attendance – Bob Kettle was absent too- voted to advance the amended levy plan to a final council vote next Tuesday; if councilmembers approve it then too, it would go to voters this August.
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