The Port Angeles, Sequim, Forks and Clallam Bay public libraries will be closed the last week of March to save money in light of an anticipated $163,000 budget shortfall.
The weeklong closure, which will be the first of two planned this year, will be from Monday, March 29, through Saturday, April 3.
All 51 employees of the North Olympic Library System, which oversees the four public libraries, will be on an unpaid furlough during the closure.
“This is the first time we can find in library history that we have to do this kind of unpaid furlough for staff and closure to balance the budget,” said Paula Barnes, library system director.
The library system board also is considering putting a levy rate increase measure on the November general election ballot — the first such request in 32 years.
During the weeklong closure, the libraries’ Web sites will not be available, bins for returning library materials will be locked, community meeting rooms will not be available and all buildings will be locked and dark.
The four libraries will reopen for business on Monday, April 5, at their regular times.
The salary savings will amount to about $35,000 for this one-week period, Barnes said.
Other savings, in such areas as utilities, are estimated to be about $1,000 for all four libraries, she said.
Another temporary closure is planned from Aug. 30 to Sept. 4.
The two together, according to Barnes’ figures for the first closure, would save about $72,000.
The remaining $91,000 of the expected shortfall will be made up through other personnel reductions, buying fewer new books and other materials, and by transferring about $88,000 from the district’s reserve funds.
Barnes said that the budget gap is the result of the cumulative effects of inflation, the loss of timber revenue and Initiative 747, passed by state voters in 2001, which caps a public entity’s property tax budget at no more than a 1 percent increase per year without a vote.
Because of budget woes, the library board is considering asking the voters of Clallam County to approve a property tax levy rate increase from 33 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation to 50 cents per $1,000 during the November general election.
That would mean that the owner of a $200,000 home would go from paying $65.86 per year to paying $100 per year in property taxes for the library system. The levy would be countywide.
Although the board has decided that it has no alternative but to ask taxpayers for more money, it has not taken formal action to put the measure on the Nov. 2 ballot, Barnes said.
The board held off while a series of public meetings was held to gather suggestions and other feedback from residents.
“They wanted to consider [public input] before making a decision,” Barnes said.
“The last time we went for a levy increase was 1978,” she added. “We have no institutional knowledge, no experience.”
Formal action
The board could take formal action on a levy hike proposal at either the March 25 or the April 22 meeting, Barnes said.
The board meets at 5 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of the month. The March meeting will be at the Port Angeles library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
The additional money would stave off such drastic measures as temporary closures and furloughs, Barnes said.
“It would alleviate these kinds of problems, not just in the near future, but the financial projections that we’ve done indicate that we would have a fiscally stable, sustainable library budget for at least 10 years,” she said.
A levy increase also could mean extended hours at the libraries, Barnes has said.
If the levy is placed on the ballot and voters approve it, money would begin to be collected in 2011.
The current library system budget is about $3.05 million. About 89 percent of the budget is from property taxes. The rest is from timber and forest products and from fines, fees and interest.
Unlike a school levy, the library levy would set a rate — not an amount to be raised for the first year.
In subsequent years, the library, which is a junior taxing district, could collect 1 percent more than the total amount of taxes collected the year before.
Reason for closure dates
The board selected the two temporary closure dates for several reasons, Barnes said.
Two separate one-week closures allow the libraries to maximize the savings derived from shuttering its buildings and technology.
The dates also minimize the impact on the staff by allowing them to spread the equivalent of a 3.8 percent wage cut over four paychecks — in March, April, August and September.
The library system employs 51 people throughout Clallam County,
Forty-five of the library system employees are members of the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees union, which agreed to the furloughs.
To contact individual libraries, visit or phone:
• Port Angeles library, 360-417-8500.
• Sequim library, 630 North Sequim Ave., 360-683-1161.
• Forks library, 171 S. Forks Ave., 360-374-6402.
• Clallam Bay library, 16990 state Highway 112, 360-963-2414.
For more information about the closures and furloughs, see www.nols.org, or contact Barnes at 360-417-8525 or director@nols.org.
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Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
