This afternoon, the City Council gave its final approval to the $219 million Seattle Library Levy renewal, sending it to the August ballot for voter approval.
Last week the Council added just under $6 million to the seven-year price tag with a set of minor amendments. In doing so, several Council members expressed their awareness that there is a delicate balance in designing a voter-approved property tax levy between inserting important programs and ensuring that the total amount is not high enough to cause voters to balk.
The current Library Levy, which expires at the end of this year, covers about 25% of the library’s budget, with most of the remainder coming from the city’s General Fund. Under the new levy, about 33% of the budget would be covered by levy dollars.