[BoulderCouncilHotline] Questions re: IGA memo

[Speer, Nicole]

Dear Staff, fellow Councilmembers, and Hotline readers,

I have some questions regarding item 6A in the agenda for our Tuesday 3/15 meeting ("Discussion on draft Library District IGA..."), that I hope can be addressed as we consider the questions posed to council for this agenda item.

Questions related to costs the city would incur if we do not form a library district

The 2/8/22 study session memo listed anticipated costs to the city for operating the libraries at the current service levels (see attached image of Table 1 from the 2/8/22 memo).

  1.  Is Table 1 an estimate of the costs the city will pay if we do not fund the library district? That is, can we expect to have a $16.78M cost in our 2023 budget if we do not have a library district?
  2.  What is the difference between the operating budget ($9.18M) and total costs in Table 1? Are we paying administrative overhead costs, maintenance costs, etc. as part of our 2022 budget?
  3.  Are costs such as administrative overhead, capital maintenance, operating deficit, and North Boulder library operating costs optional costs for 2023 that we could decide not to pay and still meet our current and promised levels of service to the community?

Questions related to similarities/dissimilarities with other library districts in Colorado

With >50 other library districts in Colorado, is it possible to get a little more data on how similar or dissimilar this proposed library district is to others of similar sizes in the state (i.e., more detail than Table 1)? Specifically, I am wondering how similar/dissimilar we are to others in terms of:

  1.  Mill levy: I understand we won't settle on a mill levy until the district boundaries are set, but where would we fall relative to other districts if our mill levy were in the 3-4 range?
  2.  Property transfer: The districts listed in Table 1 make it look like ~50% of library districts in Colorado transfer property at district formation; is that the case for the other 45 or so library districts across the state, that about half of them transferred property at formation?
     *   (I recognize I'm assuming that all systems started as city-owned/run systems and transferred to districts - is that an accurate assumption or did some simply start as districts?)
  3.  Timing for dissolution: How many other districts in Colorado provide(d) multiple attempts prior to dissolution? And, how many times have other districts proposed to try to get funding and then actually tried to get funding before being funded or dissolving?
  4.  Appointing Trustees: What proportion of Colorado's 50+ library districts use option 1 (appointment by elected officials) vs. option 2 (appointment by district Trustees)? Did any of them change from option 1->2 or option 2->1 after they had started?

Thank you!
Nicole


Nicole Speer, Ph.D.
Boulder City Councilmember
Pronouns: she, her(s), ella

Phone: 303-519-9068

Web: bouldercolorado.gov/person/nicole-speer<https://bouldercolorado.gov/person/nicole-speer>
Twitter: @SpeerBldrCC<https://twitter.com/SpeerBldrCC>

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