An agreement that will provide Pasco with library services for the next decade is almost completed.
The Mid-Columbia Libraries board unanimously approved a proposed 10-year contract with the city of Pasco during a special meeting Monday.
Board president Gloria Garcia declared, "What a relief!" after the vote, which was followed by a round of applause by library staff and board members. The library district and city have been trying to reach an agreement for the past 10 months.
And later Monday night, the Pasco City Council discussed the contract in preparation for a vote at the council's June 7 meeting.
The contract sets the city's base fee at $1.1 million for 2011, includes a new west Pasco branch by the end of 2013 and maintains the current level of services. And in 2016 it also allows the city or district to request an evaluation of whether annexation into the library district would work.
Acting mayor Matt Watkins said the proposal does a good job of meeting the needs of city and library district residents.
Pasco officials were concerned about a rapid increase in the city's library services fee, which was based on a formula that applied the city's assessed value to the district's levy rate, said Stan Strebel, Pasco deputy city manager.
The city's fee jumped from $455,000 in 2000 to $1.2 million in 2009.
But the direct expense of operating the Pasco branch didn't rise that much over the same time period, Strebel said.
The new fee will increase annually based on the increase in assessed property value in the entire library district, not just Pasco.
"I'm confident the city can absorb the expected growth in that fee in the next 10 years," said Gary Crutchfield, Pasco city manager.
The city's assessed value growth has gone up about 10 percent each year because of its rapidly rising population, while the library district's assessed fee has gone up about 4 percent, Strebel said.
And the contract allows the city to choose to cut services and have a lower fee increase if the district's growth is larger than the city's.
The district also will rent and maintain a west Pasco satellite branch and provide the branch with staff and materials, according to the draft contract.
-- John Trumbo, Herald staff writer, contributed to this report.
