Everett residents will not vote on the Sno-Isle library levy this August. The city runs its own library system, one of the last in Snohomish County to do so, and the Sno-Isle measure on the August 4 ballot only applies to the unincorporated county and the smaller cities the district serves.
But Everett has spent years weighing whether to give up that independence, annexing the Everett Public Library into Sno-Isle. And the levy now heading to voters puts a real number on what was once theoretical. Today, the library is funded inside the city's general budget, bundled invisibly into what residents already pay in city property taxes. Under annexation, that city funding would end and residents would instead pay the Sno-Isle levy as a separate line on their property tax bill.
The Everett Public Library Board of Trustees addressed the possibility directly in a February 2024 letter to the council. The board said it would ideally prefer to remain independent, citing a collection and history unique to the city. But it encouraged the council to explore all options, and asked them to research the fiscal health of Sno-Isle after annexation, and the likelihood of a Sno-Isle levy within the following four years.
The Levy Arrives
That levy is no longer a hypothetical four years out, it's on the ballot. Sno-Isle's measure asks voters to set the district's rate to $0.47 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Here's a thought experiment: if Everett had joined Sno-Isle, and the levy passed, what would the average homeowner pay? Everett's median home value now sits in the range of roughly $650,000 to $750,000, depending on how you look at the 2026 assessments. At the proposed $0.47 rate, that produces a bill of roughly $300 to $350 a year - potentially around $200 more than residents currently pay in annual taxes.
In 2024, city finance staff estimated that annexation would free up roughly $6.4 million in the city's budget, while increasing Everett's library funding by around $1.9 million. In the council's discussions, that freed-up money would not fund library services; it would pay down the city's deficit. It was never framed as a reduction residents would see on their city tax bill. But annexation was never intended to save residents money; it's intended to save the libraries.
Sno-Isle Benefits
By law, the money Sno-Isle raises can only fund libraries. Everett currently pays for library services out of the general fund, where it competes every budget cycle with every other city priority - most consequentially public safety, which has been the fastest-growing part of Everett's budget and a central driver of the deficit. Annexation would move library funding out of that competition and into a protected stream that cannot be redirected. Sno-Isle operates 23 branches across Snohomish and Island counties, and its larger branches are open seven days a week. Everett's main library is open six days; its Evergreen branch, only five.
"What does this say about the soul of our city if we have endless money for police, but divest ourselves of our public library system? How many programs directly benefiting residents are we willing to cut so we can siphon a greater share of the city's operating revenue to police?" - Amy Hieb, Everett Resident
So the measure on the August 4 ballot is, for Everett, a preview. It is the clearest look yet for residents to see the price tag on a deal the city keeps reluctantly eyeing in exchange for a library system that is larger, open longer, and funded in a way the city's own budget pressures can't touch. The ballot levy reveals the true cost.