Monday, February 2, 2026 |
Photo – The Teen Room at Rawlins Library – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Library Board chair seeks to clarify misconceptions about county library funding.
Wyoming saw a sharp rise in home values as people moved to the state during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Paying well above market prices, these newcomers pushed property taxes higher for all residents. In response, lawmakers enacted several relief measures, including a 25 percent cut for most homeowners and a 50 percent reduction for long‑term residents. However, the legislature did not provide a way for local governments to recover the lost property tax income.
Carbon County saw a $947,000 drop in total property‑tax revenue this fiscal year, nearly $500,000 of which had been earmarked for outside entities such as senior centers, museums, and libraries. In fiscal year 2025 through 2026, the Carbon County Library System’s county allocation was reduced by 53 percent.
Carbon County Library Board Chairwoman Addie Myers attended the November 18th meeting of the Wyoming Joint Revenue Committee, where she spoke against the proposed property‑tax reductions. Myers said lawmakers told her they felt obligated to pursue the cuts at the urging of their constituents, even though no one who testified at the meeting fully supported them.
Legislators are considering a constitutional amendment to eliminate all residential property taxes. In its place, the state would institute a two percent sales‑tax increase. Myers said the higher sales tax would not recover the lost revenue, instead placing a heavier burden on less affluent residents and those living in more rural areas, such as Carbon County. The Library Board chairwoman said taxes pay for the essential public services communities rely on.
Upon learning of its budget reduction, the Carbon County Library System reduced hours of operation across all seven libraries, and plans were made to close the Hanna and Medicine Bow locations. Library Board members then approached towns for additional financial support, warning that without it, further hourly reductions or additional closures could follow.
During these discussions, town councils requested up‑to‑date information on what the Carbon County Library System spent to operate each branch and how much individual towns contributed through donated services such as snow removal and trash collection. Myers said she couldn’t provide reliable figures because she was working from an outdated spreadsheet created by former Library Director Maria Wenzel and no longer had access to the raw financial data.
The lack of clear financial data left some towns unsure whether their in‑kind contributions were being counted toward the operating cost of their local branch. While Myers said the Library Board appreciates the donated services, they don’t appear in the library system’s budget because building maintenance falls to the county, which owns most of the library buildings.
Myers said contributions of water, sewer, garbage collection, and snow removal benefit the county, not the library system, adding that the Library Board has never requested funding for those services from the county.
Myers said the Board of Carbon County Commissioners advised towns that they were not responsible for any library closures. While technically true, the Library Board chairwoman asked how the system is expected to operate on just 47 percent of its anticipated budget.
Hanna and Medicine Bow officials have considered opening their own libraries, independent from the county system, should their local branches close. While some municipalities have established independent libraries, such as Frannie and Deaver in Big Horn County, Myers said they can’t offer the same level of service as a county system. As reported by Bigfoot99, the Wyoming State Library currently has no provisions for independent libraries to join the Wyoming Library Database, or WYLD, system. Myers added that independent branches also wouldn’t have access to the Carbon County Library Foundation, which provides financial assistance to the county’s libraries. Without those supports, the Library Board chairwoman said, running a library is much more expensive.
In an email to Bigfoot99, State Librarian Abby Beaver wrote that the individual libraries that make up the WYLD system are responsible for deciding if an independent library has the financial resources, administrative frameworks, and legally required status to join the consortium. Although no formal process exists for municipal libraries to join the WYLD system, Beaver wrote that they are welcome to contact the State Library and the WYLD Governing Board for more information.
The Town of Saratoga is in talks to assume ownership of its library building, taking over maintenance responsibilities from the county. Attorneys for the county and Carbon County School District Two, which currently owns the building, are still finalizing the deal. The school district originally deeded the land to the county on the condition that if it was no longer used as a library, ownership would revert to the district. As part of its agreement with Saratoga, the county plans to place a deed restriction on the property requiring that it be used for the public good, though not necessarily as a library, given that the concept of a library may change in the distant future. Myers said the term “public good” is too vague.
While they haven’t been involved in the negotiations, Myers said the Library Board doesn’t oppose the idea of transferring ownership of the Saratoga Library building to the town. However, she said the board remains concerned about the changes to the agreement. Myers said the Carbon County School District Two Board shares those concerns, adding that its members were unaware of the proposed changes until they heard about them in a Bigfoot99 story.
Myers acknowledged that the concept of a library may change in the future but noted that e‑books have existed for decades without diminishing the need for physical libraries. She said libraries are more than places to check out books, offering residents access to family activities, crafts, games, meeting space, and public computers. As an attorney, Myers said she often uses the Rawlins Library to meet with clients.
Carbon County Library Board Chairwoman Addie Myers is urging residents to contact their state and local representatives to advocate for additional funding for public services, including libraries. Myers encouraged people to ask residents in other parts of the state to press their lawmakers to repeal the tax cuts or backfill the lost revenue.
Myers also asked Carbon County residents to contact the Board of Commissioners and request that the library system’s budget be restored to last year’s level, noting that the full allotment accounts for only 1.5 percent of the county’s overall budget.
