Wellington, Red Feather opt out of library district plan

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

If a new library district forms in Larimer County, it will be without the participation of Wellington and Red Feather Lakes.

Both communities already have libraries, and Red Feather formed a tax-supported district of its own several years ago. In Wellington, the library is supported by the town's general fund.

The library board in Red Feather Lakes issued a statement saying that, while the board supports the effort to establish a new district in and around Fort Collins, it is declining the offer to join at the present time. The Wellington Town Board, which also acts as the library board, approved a resolution in June not to participate.

Both entities could elect at a later date to join the new library district, provided it wins the approval of voters this fall.

Not every community within the proposed district has the option of not participating. According to Brenda Carns, director of the Fort Collins Public Library, only communities with libraries of their own are given that choice under state library law. The proposed boundaries for the new district include all of Poudre School District plus the south end of Fort Collins' growth management area. That means that LaPorte, Bellvue, Livermore and Timnath will automatically be in the district with Fort Collins if the issue passes.

Carns said all these communities would benefit from an improved library system. Timnath in particular would have a direct advantage, since district funding would allow a new library to be built in southeast Fort Collins just across the interstate from Timnath.

Timnath Mayor Donna Benson agreed that the district could be a good thing for the growing community. "Timnath may never be big enough to build a library of its own," she said, "so it makes sense for communities to work together on it."

If voters approve the district in a November election, Timnath would not be able to leave the district later unless the entire district were dissolved, Carns said.

An ad hoc group has been working for several months to build support for forming a new library district, a move that would make more revenue available for the Fort Collins libraries. The libraries have suffered total cuts of $500,000 since 2002, resulting in reduced hours and cutbacks in programs, according to group spokeswoman Marty Tharp.

Besides restoring these cuts, funding from a library district could be used to operate a third city library in the southeast part of town. The city already has funds to build the library, but no budget to operate it.

Carns noted that about 15,000 library users are not Fort Collins residents. With a library district, everyone within the district would pay a special property tax to operate the libraries.

The group advocating for a district estimates that a property tax of about 3 mills would be needed to fund it. This would translate to about $60 per year for a home assessed at $255,000. The property tax would raise an estimated $5.8 million to $6 million per year without the participation of either Wellington or Red Feather, Carns said.

The bottom line, she said, is that "someone has to pay for library services."

If voters do not approve the district and funding shortfalls occur as predicted, there could be some tough choices to face, she added. These could include charging a fee for people who are not Fort Collins residents, or turning nonresidents away.

"I'd be the last person in the world to turn anyone away," Carns said. "The library is for everybody." However, she added, "The current way of funding (the libraries) isn't working anymore."

Earlier this year, district advocates gathered sufficient signatures to put the measure on the November ballot. Fort Collins passed a resolution on July 18 to join the new district. The county commissioners have until Sept. 8 to take the necessary steps to put the issue on the ballot.