The Fort Vancouver Regional Library district is asking voters to approve a levy lid lift this August to restore essential funding for library services across the four counties it serves. After 15 years without a tax rate increase, the library system faces severe service cuts without voter approval.
“We haven't raised taxes since 2011," explains Executive Director Jennifer Giltrop. “Our revenue has been increasing 2-3% per year, but our expenses are increasing 4-5% per year." 96% of the library's funding coming from property taxes, and inflation has severely outpaced the district's limited 1% annual growth allowance.
The massive library district serves over 550,000 people across 4,200 square miles, including all of Clark County (except Camas), Skamania County, Klickitat County, and parts of Cowlitz County. The system operates 15 library locations, an operations center, and two bookmobiles, hosting over 5,000 programs annually that welcome almost 100,000 people.
Currently, residents pay just under 27 cents per thousand dollars of taxable assessed value. The levy lid lift would restore the rate to the statutory maximum of 50 cents per thousand dollars—the same rate approved by voters in 2010. For most homeowners, this represents a modest increase that provides substantial community value. The library's fantastic online calculator shows homeowners exactly how much their library tax would be. Another calculator offers a way to calculate how much the library is saving us through its services compared to purchasing books, subscribing to streaming services, and other resources like online courses and classes.
If approved, the funding would increase open hours per week across the district, maintain current staffing levels, expand programming, and enable the opening of the new Washougal Community Library. A new Clark County bookmobile would launch in 2026 to serve growing communities without nearby library access.
Without voter approval, the consequences are stark: over 200 fewer open hours per week, elimination of 68 full-time equivalent positions, drastically reduced collections and programming, and closure of the historic Vancouver Mall library location by 2028. If another levy attempt fails by 2029, the district would face an additional 25% budget cut, potentially forcing additional building closures.
"The library is the place where the individual becomes community," Giltrop emphasizes.
The August ballot measure represents a critical investment in maintaining library services that have supported the region for decades while positioning the system to meet growing community needs.
For more information, check out the Levy Lid Lift information on the library website and linked below.
