Washoe County Library Trustees on Wednesday heard an update on a proposed tax initiative that will impact the future of the county’s libraries in November. The discussion was part of their regularly scheduled board meeting.

The Washoe County Libraries Tax Override was first approved by voters in 1994 and allocates two cents of every $100 of assessed property value from Washoe County to the libraries. 

This is not an additional two cents charged to taxpayers but rather, a reallocation of funds from the county’s general fund. At the end of this fiscal year, the tax will sunset and it will be up to voters on whether they wish to renew it. 

Since the tax took effect, the county has been able to construct the Northwest Reno, South Valleys, Incline Village and Spanish Springs libraries. It also funded the renovations of North Valleys, Downtown Reno, Northwest Reno, Sparks and Sierra View Libraries. 

According to Washoe County Library Director Jeff Scott, the future of the library system that residents have come to rely on depends on whether voters will approve the renewal of the tax. If the library tax fails, Scott said, libraries will face a multitude of cuts including lay-offs, the elimination of the book and technology budgets, and library branches will lose weekend and evening hours. 

If it passes, however, Scott said further renovations will take place at the South Valleys, Spanish Springs and Incline Village libraries, along with a brand new library built in North Valleys. He also said bookmobile and book vending machine services will be able to expand within the North Valleys, Spanish Springs and South Valleys areas. 

To promote the tax renewal, Scott said there is an ongoing plan to provide voter education to the community. The most important stipulation the director and board said they wished to convey is the fact that not passing the renewal will not save taxpayers any money. What it does is forces the county to share a certain amount of taxes with the libraries, he said. Taxpayers will not be paying less if the initiative fails. 

Trustee Al Rogers also clarified that this is not a bill draft request, or BDR, which would go before the state legislature, but rather, a ballot question asked by the county commissioners to Washoe County voters. 

Rogers said the initiative is the reason why he applied to be a member of the board, and said the passage of the tax in 1994 led to further bonds being passed for county parks and recreation. 

When times are tight, parks and libraries are not considered vital services, Rogers said, and the tax initiative is one of the only things protecting these services from cut backs such as during a recession. He said the foresight of Martha Gould, who served as library director in 1994 and developed the plan, benefited the libraries – and the community – tremendously. 

County Commissioners agreed to advance the question to voters during their June 18 meeting. 

While some members of the public continued to ask questions about the board’s stance on topics such as Drag Queen Story Hour and bathroom usage by gender, Trustee Chair Ann Silver said she hoped voters would take the “long view.” 

“I hope voters will think of the future of the community and children and take the long view, rather than focusing on issues happening right now,” she said. 

During a recent poll, 68% of Washoe County voters said they would support the continuation of the tax override, while 19% opposed it and 12% were left undecided. 

In his presentation, Scott said he believes that support will increase with voter education efforts. The average respondent to the poll, which consisted of just under 450 residents, was a 60-years-or-older white married Republican homeowner, according to the collected data. 

If the initiative is approved, funding will continue for another 30 years for Washoe County libraries, with another sunset in 2054. 

If the initiative is not approved, the funds will stay with the county and be placed in the general fund, at which point county commissioners will determine how to use them. In theory, commissioners could choose to fund the libraries anyway, but there would not be any requirement to do so. 

Other items

Scott provided an update to the board on other matters under his purview, including that legal kiosks will be expanding into downtown Reno. Legal kiosks are situated at the North Valleys and Incline Village branches and offer on-site access to legal information supported by Nevada Legal Services. 

The kiosks provide access to information and can also be used to attend virtual legal appointments and court hearings. They also provide free printing and scanning. With the successful implementation of the two current kiosks, the expansion will be happening soon at the downtown branch library.

Scott also said that in the appointment for Rogers’ seat, the Washoe Board of County Commissioners have received 94 applications. Rogers in June was not reappointed to the board.

When asked if the public is able to view the applications, Silver said they do not have access to the information but that it will be released by the county commission on their agenda prior to the appointment.