Title
Overview of Measure U Funded Departments and Programs: Library
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FileID
File ID: 2026-01170
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Location
Location: Citywide
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Recommendation
Recommendation: Receive, comment, and provide direction.
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Contact
Contact: Peter Coyl, Library Director & CEO, (916) 264-2920, director@saclibrary.org, Sacramento Public Library Authority
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Presenter
Presenter: Peter Coyl, Library Director & CEO, (916) 264-2920, director@saclibrary.org, Sacramento Public Library Authority
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Attachments
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-FY2026-2027 Proposed Library Budget
3-Presentation
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Description/Analysis
IssueDetail
Issue Detail: As part of its 2026 Workplan, the Measure U Community Advisory Commission requested presentations from departments that are responsible for implementing Measure U funded programs. During this item, the Sacramento Public Library Authority will provide an overview of its services and programs.
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PolicyConsiderations
Policy Considerations: The Sacramento Public Library Authority is a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) established under California Government Code §6500 et seq., with member jurisdictions that include the County of Sacramento and the cities of Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Galt, Isleton, Rancho Cordova, and Sacramento. Governance authority over library operations, service levels, and programs rests with the JPA Board of Directors, which is accountable to all seven member jurisdictions collectively. The City of Sacramento’s General Fund contribution, which includes Measure U revenue, represents one component of a regional funding structure. Decisions about library service levels and program delivery are made at the Authority Board level, which provides the appropriate forum for operational or programmatic input from any member jurisdiction.
Revenue from Measure U flows into the City's General Fund without restriction and is allocated across City departments by the City Council. Library funding is not a restricted or dedicated Measure U allocation; it flows through the General Fund as part of the City's overall discretionary budget. The allocation of Measure U resources across city services (including libraries) reflects discretionary choices made by the City Council among competing priorities.
The City of Sacramento is currently facing a $66.2 million structural deficit in FY 2026/27. As part of its response to that deficit, the City has diverted $4 million in General Fund and Measure U contributions - spread across FY2025/26 and FY202627 - to partially cover rising construction costs for the Martin Luther King Jr. Library remodel and the North Sacramento-Hagginwood Library renovation. This diversion has created a $3.1 million structural deficit on the City side of the library budget, requiring use of fund balance to maintain current operations.
City Council Ordinance 2024-0039, adopted September 24, 2024, outlines the purpose and the powers and duties of the Measure U Community Advisory Commission; specifically, to ensure that the expenditures of City resources reflect Council and community priorities, the commission shall review, report, and make non-binding recommendations on revenue and expenditures of certain funds from the Transactions and Use Tax imposed under Sacramento City Code chapter 3.27 (Sacramento City Code chapter 2.114).
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EconomicImpacts
Economic Impacts: Not applicable.
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EnvironmentalConsiderations
Environmental Considerations:
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA): This report concerns administrative activities and governmental fiscal activities that do not constitute a “project” as defined by the CEQA Guidelines Sections 15378(b)(2) and 15378(b)(4) and are not subject to the provisions of CEQA (CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c)(3)).
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Sustainability
Sustainability: Not applicable.
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Commission/Committee Action
Commission/Committee Action: Not applicable.
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RationaleforRecommendation
Rationale for Recommendation: In adopting its 2026 Workplan, the Measure U Community Advisory Commission invited City departments to provide an overview of their Measure U funded programs.
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FinancialConsiderations
Financial Considerations: Not applicable.
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LocalBusinessEnterprise
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
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Background
Background:
The Sacramento Public Library Authority
The Sacramento Public Library Authority is a Joint Powers Authority providing library services to the County of Sacramento and the cities of Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Galt, Isleton, Rancho Cordova, and Sacramento. The system operates 28 branches with a total budget of $69,265,000 in FY 2026-27 and serves more than 1.5 million residents across the region. More than 760,000 people hold library cards, representing 50.4% of residents in the Library's service area.
The City of Sacramento is served by 12 city library locations and the library outreach services staff. City branches account for nearly half of total system traffic.
How the Library Is Funded
Understanding how the Library is funded helps clarify how Measure U revenue fits into the overall picture.
The Library's funding comes from two distinct streams. The first is County property tax revenue held in County Fund 11, which supports library services across the six non-Sacramento jurisdictions and the unincorporated county, representing 59.2% of total revenues in FY 2026-27. The second is the City of Sacramento's contribution, which is made up of two components: a General Fund transfer that includes Measure U revenue, and a voter-approved parcel tax.
The two funding streams (City of Sacramento funds and County Fund 11) are not fungible. County Fund 11 revenues are collected from and obligated to the jurisdictions that contribute them - the County of Sacramento and the cities of Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Galt, Isleton, and Rancho Cordova. Those funds cannot be redirected to cover City of Sacramento obligations. The City of Sacramento unit is funded entirely by City General Fund and Measure E parcel tax revenues and must stand on its own.
This separation is reflected in how shared costs are allocated across the system. The Library operates a Shared Cost Fund that functions as an internal service fund, collecting common overhead costs for operating and administering the Library organization (including Finance, Human Resources, Facilities, Information Technology, and Collection Services) and distributing them to the two operating funds through an annual cost allocation plan. The Library uses a five-year average cost allocation methodology to phase in changes and minimize cost volatility year over year. In FY 2026-27, the total indirect expense within the Shared Cost Fund is $29,193,000, allocated as follows: County/Cities Fund 58% ($16,932,000), City General Fund 26% ($7,590,000), and City Measure E Parcel Tax 16% ($4,671,000).
Measure U is a general transactions and use tax. Its revenue enters the City's General Fund without restriction and is allocated across city departments by the City Council. The Library receives its General Fund support as part of that overall discretionary allocation. The City's General Fund and Measure U contribution to the Library is a blended figure - the two sources cannot be cleanly separated, and the Library's budget does not receive a dedicated Measure U line item. Because Measure U is a general tax, the library's funding share reflects Council priorities rather than a protected or restricted allocation.
The voter-approved parcel tax provides a separate, dedicated source of support. On November 5, 2024, Sacramento voters approved Measure E with 74% voter support. Measure E permanently consolidated the two existing library parcel taxes, Measure X (2004) and Measure B (2014), into a single permanent tax with no expiration date, effective July 1, 2025. The parcel tax is projected to generate $11,000,000 in FY 2026-27.
The Measure E ordinance includes a codified General Fund maintenance-of-effort floor of $7,635,500. This provision requires the City to maintain at least this level of General Fund support as a condition of the parcel tax. The current General Fund contribution is at that floor with no buffer.
For FY 2026-27, the City's General Fund and Measure U contribution to the Library is $12,271,661 - the second consecutive year at that level. Combined with Measure E parcel tax revenue and other revenues, total City unit revenues are $25,014,000 in FY 2026-27. The City's General Fund contribution has been reduced by $4 million over two fiscal years relative to prior-year levels, diverted to cover rising construction costs for two major capital projects as described below. In addition, the City has eliminated previously projected annual General Fund step-up increases, resulting in a cumulative funding loss to the Library of approximately $7.7 million over five fiscal years.
Understanding the Cost of Library Services
Library services are resource-intensive in ways that are not always visible. Salaries represent approximately 58.6% of the Library's total FY 2026-27 budget, reflecting the staffing required to operate 12 city locations and 2 bookmobiles across a full service week.
A question that arises frequently is whether expanding digital services reduces costs. The structure of the publishing market makes that assumption worth examining carefully. Libraries do not purchase ebooks and digital audiobooks the way consumers do. They license them, typically on a per-title, per-checkout, or annual subscription basis. Several major publishers restrict library access to new titles or price digital licenses at multiples of the consumer rate. Licenses expire and must be repurchased. The average cost of a library ebook license rose 34% between 2019 and 2024. As digital demand grows, digital costs grow with it. The result is that expanding digital services adds to operating costs rather than substituting for physical collection costs. Sacramento's digital checkouts have exceeded 3 million annually, and the licensing costs associated with that volume are a meaningful and growing part of the Library's budget. Recurring contractually imposed cost increases cannot be absorbed without reducing either digital or physical collections.
FY 2024/25 Community Impact
The Library delivered the following outcomes through its 12 city locations in FY 2024-25.
Total system circulation reached 8.9 million - an all-time high for the Sacramento Public Library. City branches account for nearly half of that total.
Access: More than 150,000 Student Success Cards have been distributed to Sacramento students, providing free library access and removing barriers for school-age residents. The bookmobile program has made 3,090 visits since 2020, extending service to underserved areas. Free public Wi-Fi and device checkout are available at all city locations.
Lifelong Learning: 269 community members have earned Career Online High School diplomas through the Library since 2014. More than 2,850 community members have received job coaching. The Library's database collections have logged 1.5 million sessions since 2020.
Literacy: The Library has served more than 5,000 adult literacy learners since 1984. More than 150,000 books have been provided to Sacramento first graders through the Book First initiative. The Summer Reading program has engaged more than 285,000 readers since 2014.
Civic Engagement: The Library has hosted vote centers and ballot drop boxes for every election since 2014, making library locations a consistent part of the City's civic infrastructure.
Digital Equity: Free computer access, Wi-Fi, and device lending are available at all 12 city locations. Public computer use has totaled more than 548,000 hours since FY 2020.
The Student Success Cards program has been adopted as the California statewide model under SB 321. The Adult New Reader Project, created at Sacramento Public Library in 2022, was adopted statewide by the California State Library.
The FY 2026-27 budget eliminates 13 limited-term Library Assistant positions at city branch locations to mitigate the structural deficit created by the General Fund diversion. This reduction in staffing reflects the direct operational consequence of the capital cost diversion on the City side of the library budget.
Capital Investment in City of Sacramento Library Locations
The City of Sacramento funds capital improvements at city library locations under JPA Section 12(d), which designates the City as the responsible party for capital improvements and capital repairs at city-owned library facilities. Through the California State Library's Building Forward Library Facilities Improvement Program, the City secured state grant funding and committed significant matching funds across five city library projects. Total approved project costs are $38.3 million, with $15.2 million in state grant funding and a City of Sacramento commitment of $23.1 million.
The City's General Fund and Measure U contribution to library operations has been reduced by $4 million over two consecutive fiscal years (FY 2025-26 and FY 2026-27) to partially cover rising construction and related costs for the Martin Luther King Jr. Library remodel and the North Sacramento-Hagginwood Library renovation. This diversion has created a structural deficit on the City side of the library budget, requiring use of fund balance to maintain current operations. The City's capital investment in library facilities and the City's operating contribution to the library are connected: the decision to prioritize construction cost overruns has directly reduced the operating resources available to serve City residents at the 12 city branch locations.
Completed Projects
Three city library projects funded through the California State Library's Building Forward program are complete: major repairs to the Belle Cooledge Library (exterior tile veneer, roof, and HVAC); major repairs to the Central Library (elevator, HVAC, and roof); and roof and parking lot repairs at the Del Paso Heights Library. Combined project costs totaled approximately $3.5 million, funded through state grants and City matching funds.
Active Projects
The Martin Luther King Jr. Library, located at 7340 24th Street in South Sacramento, is undergoing its first full renovation in its 54-year history at a total project cost of $15,800,000. Construction began in March 2025 and the library is projected to reopen in summer 2026. The renovation includes enhanced children's and teen spaces, an expanded community room, quiet study and collaboration areas, seismic upgrades, a new HVAC system, updated restrooms, and installation of an Automated Materials Handling System. The project has transitioned into the operational readiness phase, including furniture, fixtures and equipment installation, collection delivery and shelving, technology setup, and staff preparation.
The North Sacramento-Hagginwood Library is being retrofitted at 1124 Del Paso Boulevard, the former Sacramento News and Review building, at a total project cost of $19,000,000. The project expands the library from a 4,000-square-foot leased space to a 19,000-square-foot community hub. Construction began in fall 2025 and is projected for completion in 2027 ahead of the June 2027 grant deadline. The new building will include expanded spaces for reading, digital access, and community programming, with dedicated areas for teens and young children and a community meeting room. The project nearly quintuples the library's footprint in North Sacramento, a community with historically limited access to full-service library facilities.
The City also continues to fund its Public Works Measure U Multi-Year Operating Plan at $400,000 annually, covering deferred maintenance needs under $20,000 per issue across the eleven library buildings it owns.
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