In August, Sequim and Clallam County voters will see the North Olympic Library System on the primary ballot.

The library system’s board of trustees unanimously passed a resolution on April 22 to bring a levy to taxpayers on Aug. 17 as part of its business plan 2012.

It aims to return the library’s property tax levy rate from 33 cents to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property valuation.

“Libraries are very good at making do with what they have, but we have finally reached the point where there are no more cuts to be made without reducing basic services,” said board chairman Don Zanon. 

Due to a Washington state law tax cap of no more than 1 percent without a vote of the people and an inflation rate averaging 2.3 percent, the library has had to cut staffing, hours of operation, materials spending and deferred maintenance on infrastructure and equipment.

Paula Barnes, the system’s executive director, said a levy campaign finance committee is forming.

The 2012 plan can be found at www.nols.org on the “About NOLS” tab or click here.

More stories on the plan are on the Sequim Gazette’s Web site.