Idaho Falls Public Library, Bonneville Library District Board give update on service agreement

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - People who live in Bonneville County and who use the Idaho Falls Public Library are being asked for their opinion on an important topic.

Idaho Falls City Library Board Member Rodd Rapp explains the issue is the current service agreement, which ends on Sept. 30.

"The library has a service agreement, much like a rental contract, with the Bonneville County Library Board, where the City Library provides a service and then the contract assesses an amount to the county to receive those services," Rapp said.

Currently, Idaho Falls city residents pay 65% of the budget for the library, and county residents pay 31%. The rest is paid by those who have nonresident cards and live outside the county.

Bonneville County Library District trustee Rebecca Blackson explains how it's paid.

"So for county residents, it's only a fee. So one household, one fee, it comes through your county taxes," Blackson said. "So your yearly tax bill that says, 'OK, here's what you pay for water, sewer', library will be on there as well. So Bonneville County collects that fee for us, but it's just a fee, not a tax. But Idaho Falls residents, it's different. It is a property tax."

Rapp explains residents of Idaho Falls account for about 53% of usage in the library, and the county accounts for 42%. The other 5% would be those who are outside of the county.

Rapp says that led them to make a new offer.

"So the offer that we have made from the city to the county brings us into financial parity, where the county would be paying 42% of the budget, which then matches their usage rather than the 31% they are currently paying," Rapp said.

Blackson says the number went up due to county growth. Because of that, the flat fee households pay will go up.

"They want us to pay the percentage of what we use, meaning how much we check out, what circulation is. So that's a little different than cardholders," Blackson said.

The fee would increase to $100, which is leaving some trustees hesitant to accept the offer.

"Which is less than $10 a month, but it's more than the $61.50 we're currently charging," Blackson said. "So because of that jump from $61.50 to $100 a year, most of the trustees on the board are not OK with it, and they don't want to approve the contract."

If an agreement isn't reached, county residents would no longer have access to the library, unless they purchase a non-resident card, which costs $120, Rapp says.

"Therefore, those who live in the county, but not in the city of Idaho Falls would then have to purchase that same card," Rapp said. "And they would have all of the services available at the library other than electronic services, which are not included because that is a separate contract with those vendors."

That means services like Overdrive/Libby, LinkedIn Learning, and Rosetta Stone would not be available.

It also means the Iona and Swan Valley branches of the library would be forced to close.

The County Library District will be meeting Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 11:30 a.m. at the library in the meeting rooms. Blackson says she hopes people come out and let their opinions known.

"I'm really hoping people will come and say we do want this service or we don't want to pay this much money because then we will know how to vote," Blackson said.

Blackson also says she hopes voting on a decision will take place the same day.

"We have discussed this for a full year and specifically for the last three meetings that we've had in," Blackson said. "Our contract ends at the end of September, and we have to write our counteroffer. It has to go through legal then it has to get approved or not approved by the City Library before we can actually sign the contract. So I think we're at the deadline. We need to get that signed. So I'm going to push on Tuesday that we vote on it."