Seattle City Council Sends Library Levy to Voters, With Funding for Columbia City Branch

The Seattle City Council hopes that come August, cash-strapped voters will renew their faith in local libraries and agree to a $480 million library levy that will continue fine-free borrowing and pay for a seismic retrofit for the Columbia City library branch.

The council approved the library levy on April 14 in an 8-0 vote (Councilmember Bob Kettle was excused from the meeting). As proposed by Mayor Katie Wilson, the levy cost was initially set at $410 million. After council amendments, the final levy total grew to roughly $480 million. The original levy proposal included the following:

• $218.4 million for hours and access

• $85.9 million for building maintenance

• $58.5 million for books, materials, and fine-free borrowing

• $38.2 million for technology and online services

• $9 million for the administration of the levy

The nearly $70 million from council amendments went toward additional construction, maintenance, retrofitting, and library services projects.

A key levy-funded project that would impact South Seattle is the seismic retrofitting of the historic Columbia Branch library. The retrofitting project was a goal of the 2019 levy, but was shelved in December 2025 after Mayor Bruce Harrell and the City Council approved a $5 million reduction to the Seattle Public Library. In the current levy, $13 million is dedicated to the Columbia Branch for seismic retrofitting.

In its first year, the levy would increase property taxes $0.19 in the first year for every $1,000 in assessed property value, bringing the total taxes for all city levies to $3.03 for every $1,000 in assessed property value.

Although the council vote was unanimous, some councilmembers expressed dissent and were reserved about the price tag.

The most notable dissent came from Councilmember Maritza Rivera, the chair of the Library, Education & Neighborhoods Committee, who said she supported the original $410 million levy proposed by the mayor's office but was "disappointed in the turn the renewal process took" with the additional amendments.

"We literally cannot afford to continue [to] operate this way," said Rivera and urged the council to "govern with more fiscal responsibility."

Rivera said that the increased levy "contributes to our city's affordability problem" and would place an added burden on elderly residents, renters, and low-income individuals. Although citing some constituents who are "needing to continue to work past retirement just to pay those taxes," under state law, qualifying individuals over 61 years old, certain disabled individuals, and veterans are excluded from paying property taxes.

In response to Rivera's comments, Councilmember Dionne Foster said that "affordability is important to all of us," but said the high price tag of the levy is partly due to "cuts that the library has absorbed over the past several years due to our challenges that [the city] has with the general fund."

Other councilmembers supported the levy, with Councilmember Rob Saka calling it "a terrific package," but he, along with Councilmembers Dan Strauss and Eddie Lin, referenced state tax law that limits their ability to fund essential services.

After the meeting, Council President Joy Hollingsworth suggested reading is fundamental to Seattle residents when she told the Emerald she "one thousand percent" supports the levy. In response to Rivera's concerns over affordability and the price tag of the levy, Hollingsworth said, "Everyone is concerned about inflation and affordability, but I don't think people want [library] services cut."

When asked why there has been a focus on dedicating progressive taxes, like the JumpStart tax, to public safety, while regressive property taxes are used to fund services like the library, Hollingsworth said, "That is a bigger question regarding our structural budget stuff that we are going to be dealing with in the fall."