Libraries lobby for tax increase

Much of the front of the Rehoboth Beach Public Library is obscured by black mesh stretched across chain-link fencing that blocks access to parts of an ongoing construction project.

The library on Rehoboth Avenue is undergoing an $8 million renovation to upgrade its HVAC and meeting space, and increase accessibility to improve services to patrons, who numbered 60,000 in Fiscal Year 2025.

A $2 million capital campaign to help fund the work creates an additional financial challenge on top of the library’s $543,100 annual operating budget, said Library Director Lauren McCauley Feb. 27. The campaign will supplement $6 million in state and federal contributions. 

“Our programs are all free,” McCauley said. “Unlike a business, when costs go up, we can’t raise our rates because we don’t have rates.”

The county library tax contributes $249,530 toward the annual operating budget of the library, she said. The state pays 15% of costs, and a contribution from the city and fundraising by the Friends of Rehoboth Beach Library help cover the balance.

The Rehoboth library is among 11 independent public libraries in Sussex County that rely heavily on the library tax. All of them, with the exception of the Seaford Public Library, have begun lobbying for the first tax rate increase since 2008, said Candace Vessella, chair of the Sussex County Library Advisory Board.

They are using a postcard campaign to urge individual county council members to double the tax, said Vessella, who met individually with the boards of the independent libraries, county council members and county staff.

In a Jan. 22 letter, the 10 participating independent libraries asked the county librarian to request that Sussex County Council increase the library tax rate. Doubling the rate to 0.0046 cents per $100 of property value would raise about $2.5 million more for the libraries.

They now receive a total of about $3.1 million annually, dividing that amount among themselves.

Doubling the library tax would result in a tax bill of $18.20 per year for a property assessed at $400,000. The bill for any particular property would vary, depending on its assessment.

“These libraries formed a coalition to raise awareness of this situation and request an increase in the county library tax to reduce the time and financial resources they must expend on fundraising, so that this time and money would be applied to public services for their patrons,” according to an overview of the tax hike proposal from the participating libraries.

County officials said Feb. 26 they are always reluctant to raise property taxes.

County Administrator Todd Lawson noted there is a piqued sensitivity this year. The first countywide reassessment update in decades was completed last year, and Lawson does not want to upset property owners with a tax increase now.

The county in its next budget will also look to address long-standing funding concerns. 

Council is expected to increase aid to fire departments in response to a report issued last year that concluded they are seriously underfunded. There are also plans to create a building permit fee to support school expansion projects that accommodate rising student populations resulting from the ongoing housing boom. 

Lawson noted rapidly rising property values resulting from home construction and increasing property values have increased revenue collected through the library tax at the current level.

Revenue from the library tax has risen from $1.9 million to $3 million, or by 54%, since 2008, which has kept pace with the rate of inflation, said County Finance Director Gina Jennings.

However, the county library tax revenue received by Rehoboth Beach Public Library over time has not kept pace with the actual increases in the cost of providing library services, McCauley said.

Lawson said in addition to the county contribution, the state pays 15% of library operating costs. Some municipalities also contribute to library costs.

“They are the community libraries,” Lawson said. “The community should have an investment in their community libraries.”

After municipal support, individual independent libraries must cover between 13% and 52% of their budgets from fundraising, Vessella said. That amounts to a total of $2.1 million, she said.

Vessella also criticized the two-tiered library system in Sussex County, in which three libraries are operated by the county, while the other 11 are independent.

Lawson said in the 1970s or 1980s, there were talks about having the county take over all libraries, but only Milton agreed. In subsequent years, the county established the Greenwood library and South Coastal Library in Bethany Beach.

The three county libraries are fully funded by the county and receive a total of $3.7 million. The county pays salaries of a county librarian and staff of its three libraries, and provides health coverage and retirement contributions. It also maintains the three library buildings.

The $3.1 million from the county includes $2 million in library tax revenue, $200,000 from a mobile home replacement fee, $800,000 from general property tax revenue and $70,000 from the previous year due to an increase in assessments.

The county pays for costs related to the three county library buildings, while the independent libraries must pay such costs, including the Rehoboth Beach Public Library renovation and its planned second library building off Warrington Road.