Stevens County library levy seeks first increase since 1998

STEVENS COUNTY, Wash. — Stevens County voters will decide next month whether to pay more in property taxes to fund the county’s libraries.

This would be the first levy increase since the libraries were established in 1998. Staff say it is needed to continue providing services for the growing community.

Right now, taxpayers pay .27 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. This levy would raise that amount to .44 cents. For the owner of a $300,000 home who currently pays $81 per year in taxes for the libraries. This levy would raise that by about $50 per year.

The library district says this levy increase in needed to keep up with inflation, and the growing number of people that use the counties seven libraries.

“Over 24,000 people or device unique devices, different people used our Wi-Fi in 2025. That’s about half the population of the county,” Six said. “Ebooks, like print and audiobooks that you listen to both those downloadable plus movies that is increased by 845% in the last 15 years.”

“We need to vote yes for this levy because we’re at a place in our library system where, we’ve made all the cuts that we can make, and our libraries are an integral part of our communities,” said Sue Poe, the Chairman of Citizens for Stevens County Libraries.

The libraries in Stevens County have already had to cut 100 hours of service per week due to lack of funding. That number would continue to grow if this levy doesn’t pass.

“So that will be the main thing is reducing more hours. We won’t be able to offer as many programs because again, that staff, we will have to reduce the number of items we purchase or the multiple copies,” Six said.

Supporters say this would benefit the whole community, while some voters say another tax increase is not affordable right now.

If voters approve the levy, the libraries would be open longer in the evenings and on weekends. There would also be more materials available to checkout and more programming like story time.