Friday, October 23, 2026
The Olympia City Council will consider resolutions related to one regional proposition and two statewide initiatives on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot at a meeting next week.
The local proposition is from Timberland Regional Library, which is seeking a levy lid lift. The initiatives are statewide measures related to public schools.
The city council will offer opportunities for people to weigh in on the issues at a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 6. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at Olympia City Hall, 601 4th Ave. E.
Timberland Regional Library is proposing a hike in its levy rate.
If passed by voters in the Nov. 3 General Election, the levy rate would increase to $0.35 from $0.22 per $1,000 of assessed property value beginning in 2027.
The levy lid lift would generate approximately $14 million in operating revenue in the first year, data shows.
The funding would be used to restore case reserves, improve services by bringing back staffing levels so libraries can stay open for more hours, as well as increase spending on its collections to reduce waiting time on popular titles.
The funding would also be used to address deferred maintenance on facilities.
A staff report recommends the city council support the resolution in favor of the levy lid lift proposition. The Tumwater City Council approved a similar resolution last month.
Timberland Regional Library serves Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific and Thurston counties through 29 libraries, mobile services and online resources.
The council will also consider a resolution related to participation in K-12 sports. The resolution calls for the city council to oppose the initiative.
According to a staff report, the initiative would require female students who wish to participate in interscholastic athletics to undergo additional physical, genetic or hormonal testing as part of their routine sports physical examination.
The testing would be used to determine whether a student meets the initiative’s definition of being “not biologically male.”
The staff report cites the city’s 2025 resolution declaring Olympia “ an inviting, equitable and safe community for LGBTQIA2S+ people.”
Under state law, the council must provide an opportunity for public comment before taking a collective position on a ballot proposition.
The final resolution concerns parental rights relating to their children in public schools.
"This measure would repeal amendments to a statue listing certain rights of parents and guardians of public-school children and (reenact) the law as it was originally enacted by Initiative to the Legislature 2081," ballot language states.
A staff report states the measure could affect the ability of school counselors and health care staff to provide confidential support to some LGBTQIA2S+ students.
In citing studies, “There are LGBTQIA2S+ youth who may not be safe in their homes due to such issues and need the support that school staff or other trusted adults can provide. Studies have also shown that LGBTQIA2S+ youth who live in unsupportive homes face higher rates of depression, abuse, and homelessness," the staff report states.
4 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
TheVirtualOne
Boys do not belong in girls’ sports. Period.
Schools should not be allowed to block parents’ access to information about their children.
That city government is opposed to these kinds of things shows how little they know about their constituents.
Want to see more public schools close? Keep this sort of stuff going on and more people will move to homeschooling and private schools.
Saturday, October 3 Report this
OlyBlues
Completely agree with everything TheVirtualOne stated. Spot on.
Considering the Olympia City Council regularly supports tax increases for non-essential services, endorsing the TRL tax increase is nothing more than showboating. This a huge missed opportunity to question why Thurston County Taxpayers should continue to support a lopsided and inequitable funding system where county residents currently pay $9 million more in TRL taxes than every other county in the library district. This excessive subsidization must be reviewed. Supporting this levy also rewards TRL for overspending their budget by $3 million over the past few years. TRL must do better and throwing more millions at them does not fix the structural inequity funding model or culture of overspending on what is a non-essential service. TRL should start there. The other counties must step up and start paying their fair share.
Saturday, October 3 Report this
Tanker1982
Agree with both writers
Saturday, October 3 Report this
jimlazar
I am commenting only on the library levy lid lift.
Yes, there were management problems at TRL. Those people don't work there any more. TRL has a new chief executive, a new finance director, and a new operations director. They are fixing those problems immediately.
TRL depends almost entirely on property tax - about 95% of their budget. Under the legislation passed in 2001, they can only raise taxes on existing properties by 1% per year; then they can apply that same rate to new properties. But new properties bring new people and new library users. So the revenue basically rises at 1% per person per year. That does not cover inflation that is running at more like 3% per year. TRL has lost about one-third of their purchasing power since the 2001 legislation.
Cities have sales tax, business tax, and utility tax; those rise with inflation. As a result, the 1% limitation on annual property tax increases is less of a crisis for cities than for TRL.
Libraries provide us many important services. I use them for books, magazines, newspapers, videos, printing, and streaming services. They provide us good value for our taxes.
Yes, Thurston County does pay more than our share of the TRL budget. We pay about half of the budget, but have only one-fourth of the libraries they staff. But the TRL service center is located here as well. The service center include all of the administrative staff, plus the purchasing staff, computer staff, and transportation staff for materials. Those jobs are in Thurston County, and when you count that, we get more than our share of the TRL payroll here in Thurston County.
Vote YES on the Timberland Regional Library levy lid lift.
Sunday, October 4 Report this