Issaquah and Redmond libraries to benefit from retirement of bonds

December 12, 2018

Summary

Excess Funds to Be Reinvested in Libraries

Story

Metropolitan King County Councilmembers Reagan Dunn and Kathy Lambert said the approved reinvestment of excess funds from bonds issued to build the Issaquah and Redmond libraries back into the facilities is a positive step in keeping the libraries vital now and into the future.

More than $240,000 in excess bond funds will be reinvested into the two libraries.

“It’s not every day a governmental organization shuts itself down,” said Dunn. “But I’m glad to see that the bonds for the Issaquah and Redmond Libraries have been paid off and we are reinvesting the remaining funds into these libraries. The Issaquah and Redmond libraries are an enormous community and educational resource and these funds will help keep them strong.”

“Residents in Issaquah and Redmond took an incredibly proactive step years ago to get new libraries in their communities sooner than they would have otherwise,” Lambert said. “Now that the bonds are paid off, the Issaquah Library and the Redmond Library have a total of $240,000 in excess funding to go towards their capital needs. I continue to be impressed by these two libraries and their service to the community.”

King County Library System Executive Director Lisa Rosenblum expressed gratitude for the Council’s recognition of the importance of libraries as community assets. “Any reinvestment in libraries is a reinvestment in the residents of King County,” Rosenblum said.

Lambert, Dunn and Councilmember Claudia Balducci are the members of the Issaquah and Redmond Library Capital Facility Areas. With the payment of the bonds, the members voted December 11 to dissolve the two taxing districts.

With the retirement of the bonds, $185,000 in excess bond funds will be available for the Issaquah Library, and $59,000 for the Redmond Library.

The two libraries were developed when the King County Library System (KCLS) proposed the creation of the library capital facilities areas as localized taxing districts in Issaquah and Redmond within the same boundaries of their respective school districts. The voters approved the formation of the separate bond-issuing entities—the Issaquah Library Capital Facility Area and the Redmond Library Capital Facility Area—and the bonds used to build the libraries were issued in 1998 and 1999.

State law allows these taxing districts to be dissolved upon the payment of the bonds. The governing body members voted to close the taxing districts and transfer the remaining funds and ownership of the buildings to KCLS, as originally agreed.