The Ocean Shores City Council on Monday voted 4-2 to return funding for the Library back into the general fund part of the annual city budget, eliminating the need for another levy increase or lid lift to pay for what now is about a $300,000-a-year operation.

Council members Holly Plackett and Jon Martin were opposed to the measure, which was proposed formally for the first time Monday by members of the Library Board along with city librarian Keitha Owen.

Both Plackett and Martin questioned elements of the proposal, such as what it would costs in the first year of the change, proposed to start in the 2018 budget year, or why it was necessary to make an immediate decision. Also, no public comment was taken in open session on the proposal, which was presented as the first staff report of the evening.

Library Board president Bob Krueger, who was not present at the meeting, addressed the issue in a letter to the full council and mayor.

“I feel the city should commit to support the library in the general fund in 2018 with revenue that would at least maintain the services we are now providing. It should be noted that in 2017 the library will be operating at minimal staffing and with a significantly insufficient material budget,” Krueger wrote, citing more than 30 cities of Ocean Shores’ general size that support a library as part of their budgets.

He also pointed out the library has 3,901 card holders from Taholah to Ocean Shores, “and the guests who visit our city depend on the services the library provides.”

Other virtues of the library were cited, such as how often it is used for public meetings, for outreach and as a gathering place for students in the North Beach School District, and as a place where seniors and those on low incomes can use many of its services, such as computer access and research.

“Our library has been a valued civic institution since 1972, and remains a source of great civic pride to our citizens,” Krueger wrote.

Board members Melanie Jones and Robin Fickle then presented the overview of the funding plan, asking for a 2018 allocation of $300,000 for library operations.

Jones said that level matches “the 2016 level of service, which is a very conservative, bare bones budget.”

The library in 2016 from January to November saw an average of 185 visitors a day.

“It’s important that you make this decision soon,” Fickle said, noting the library board otherwise has to decide when to ask the public for another vote on a library levy lift. Such a vote, she said, could cost about $10,000 but “those funds would be more profitable used elsewhere.”

“A levy campaign is long and involved,” Fickle said. “Given the recent (city) property tax increase and other proposed increases, we feel that asking the voters to support a library levy at this time would be an extremely difficult sell. Libraries funded through levy sources are further limited in that they are not considered to be sustainable.”

Councilwoman Lisa Griebel, a former Library Board member before being appointed to the vacated Council Position 3 seat earlier this past year, made the motion to support the move without setting an exact budget amount, and it ultimately was approved by a majority that included Bob Peterson, another former Library Board president, John Lynn and Gordon Broadbent.

Funding of the library from the general fund portion of the city budget was previously discussed as part of the council-approved one-time property tax boost taken to offset the loss of revenue when property was devalued two years ago.

“We suggested at that time that bringing the library back into the general fund would be a good use of about three quarters of that funding,” Mayor Crystal Dingler said of the reasoning behind the move.

Griebel said she supported the move back into the general fund without setting an exact budget figure because “we’re talking a year from now, and I felt uncomfortable saying, ‘Here’s the amount of money we’re going to fund in 2018,’ because that’s unpredictable at this point.”

“I haven’t hidden my support of the library,” she said. “It is the one place we have here in the city that appeals to all ages, from babies to seniors, that doesn’t cost any money and all are welcome.”

Martin said he did support the recent tax increase as a way of moving the library back into the general fund.

“But not having a dollar amount is a big concern,” Martin added, noting the city in 2018 also will have the dilemma of whether to continue to pay for recently added fire fighting staff hired under a two-year federal grant that will be expiring. “There are some big dollar amounts that we still need to talk about. … We’re committing to a dollar amount on the motion that was made which we don’t even know what it could be.”

Plackett said she also fully supports the library and worked on one library levy that lost and two others that local voters passed.

“I want to make it very, very clear that should I vote against this motion tonight, it is in no way voting against a library,” Plackett said.

However, Plackett argued that having a library levy “is the way to go. I think the reason it came out of the city (budget) was that we had very hard economic times.”

The levy allowed the library “to substantiate and to get funds,” Plackett added. “It’s a harder sell because you actually have to go out and talk to your customers and make sure they understand the services they are being charged for. At the same time, I think the library levy gives the library some independence, and you are not at the whim of the council when the budgets come up.”

She also urged the council to hold off on a decision, contending a decision on the next levy didn’t have to be made until May 2017. “I know you want an early answer, but I think we should give this a little more thought,” Plackett said.

Councilwoman Jackie Farra was absent from the meeting, and Plackett tried but failed by a 2-4 vote to table the motion.

Martin said he still had too many questions: “We haven’t spent any time to discuss what we’re going to do and what it looks like in our budget. For us to move forward, if we’re going to be responsible, we should take time.”

The council then voted 4-2 to adopt the library back into the general fund without further public comment.