Voters approve NOLS’ levy lid lift
Published 4:30 pm Tuesday, May 12, 2026
A special election to restore the North Olympic Library System’s tax levy rate has passed.
The April 28 ballot featured only NOLS’ proposition to increase its regular property tax levy from its current rate $0.28 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed valuation to $0.45 per $1,000 of assessed valuation starting in 2027.
The resolution passed 51.2% (12,845 votes) in favor to 48.8% (12,257 votes) opposed. It was certified on May 8 with 42.1% registered voter turnout. The levy had to pass with 50% plus one simple majority.
Updated rates will begin in January 2027 with a residential assessed property value of $300,000 going from its current monthly levy rate of $7 to $11.25, and a $400,000 property going from $9.33 monthly to $15 a month.
NOLS last asked voters to raise its levy in 2010 to $0.50 per $1,000 of assessed value; it passed with 59.1% in favor (14,299).
Library administrators reported that if the recent lid lift didn’t pass, they would have looked at options to reduce expenditures by cutting hours, staffing, material purchases, and more next year. However, that is no longer the case, according to library administrators.
In a May 1 blog post on the library’s website, Executive Director Noah Glaude thanked voters and wrote that “NOLS understands that asking for any increase in property taxes is a significant request, particularly at a time when so many households are feeling the pressure of higher prices on nearly everything.”
“The thoughtful conversations we have had at community presentations, in library branches, and around our neighborhoods across the county reflect a community that cares about both its libraries and its people,” he wrote.
Library patron Alicia Crawford of Blyn said on Election Day while going to the Sequim Library she hoped the levy lid lift passed. Others inside the library stressed NOLS’ importance for access to children’s books, activities, and/or high speed internet.
Crawford said she was also grateful for the Sequim Library being expanded. It reopened on March 21.
Library staff have reported that no levy funds were used to renovate and expand the Sequim Library.
Glaude wrote online that the library will be able to maintain open hours, collections, programs, and technology with the lid lift.
In an interview, he said once the election was certified they plan to post a few job listings system-wide that have been left vacant since December. A part-time courier position was posted online last week at NOLS’ website.
“We will continue to be careful stewards of taxpayer resources to provide the best library services possible, just as we have been over the 16 years since the last levy lid lift,” Glaude wrote.
Staff report that the library’s levy total will increase to approximately $7.8 million compared to 2026’s operating budget of approximately $7.3 million with revenue collected over what’s needed for reserves for “when the levy rate inevitably begins to shrink again and inflation causes costs to increase.”
NOLS staff report that its property tax revenue cannot increase by more than 1% annually, unless approved by voters, and they and other junior tax districts are largely dependent on local property taxes.
The library system consists of four branches in Sequim, Port Angeles, Clallam Bay and Forks, with a traveling Bookmobile. NOLS’ 2025 Annual Report states that there were 32,000 active cardholders, 25,000-plus attended a library event, they checked out 993,000 items and made 312,000-plus patron visits to library branches.
For more information about NOLS, visit nols.org/levy.
