By Bob Seidenberg
Evanston Public Library officials are in talks with the city about an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) agreement, outlining the two entities financial responsibilities in the maintenance of library facilities — an issue library officials have been trying to resolve for over a year.
Executive Library Director Yolande Wilburn made the surprising disclosure during the Board’s introductory discussion of their 2026 budget on Wednesday, Sept. 3, responding to a trustee’s question about the status of the IGA.
Wilburn told board members that a team of city staff members, including City Manager Luke Stowe, joined she and Facilities Manager Carlos Hernandez earlier that day in a walk through of the main branch at 1703 Orrington Ave.
Library officials have pushed for the last year for some kind of cost-sharing plan to address needs of the building, which the city owns.
A consultant’s report estimated $19 million in renovation costs are needed at the building, which was opened in 1994, as well as a new roof.
Wilburn told Library Board members that the city group, which included City Engineer Lara Biggs, looked at “what are the major things that actually have to be done, what are the things that can wait and what do we have to have done.”
“I think everyone’s in agreement that the roof needs to be done,” she said.
On other items, “they (city officials) have got a sense now we do need to determine who is paying for what,” she said.
Stowe confirmed Thursday that city staff and library staff did a joint walk-through, “and we are also collaborating on analyzing the financial aspects of this relationship,” he said.
“The city remains committed to continuing to work collaboratively with EPL leadership to secure a mutually beneficial IGA that is fiscally responsible and responsive to our community’s needs,” he said.
Seeking a 99-year lease at the main building
Wilburn told Board members that she made other requests in the conversation with city officials, including asking for a 99-year lease on the main library building and a ten year lease on the library’s branch library, located inside the Robert Crown Community Center at 1801 Main St.
In both cases, five years notice by the parties would be required.
“It’s a long time but it’s certainly a reasonable time to make capital plans,” said Wilburn, who presided over a number of branch openings in her previous job as head of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries system in California.
Library officials have drafted an initial spreadsheet outlining changes they would like to see to the original Memo of Understanding which was agreed to 2014, Wilburn said. In 2023, the Library’s payment to the city was increased from $250,000 to $350,000 for services received, such as Human Resources and financial support.
At the Board’s Aug. 6 meeting, James Rachlin, the consultant the Library is using to examine its financial future — including the feasibility of separating from the city to become an independent district — suggested the importance of the Library reaching some clear agreement on use of both the main library and Robert Crown buildings, no matter which direction they decide to go.
A share of PPRT monies part of the request too
Wilburn said she also requested that the city to provide figures on the revenue received through the Personal Property Replacement Tax (PPRT), acting on another recommendation from Rachlin.
The tax was enacted by the state in 1979 to replace revenue lost by local government units and school districts when their powers to impose taxes on corporations and businesses was taken away.
Approximately $32 million in revenues from the tax was received by the city between 2002 and 2024, according to one estimate.
The library is entitled to about 20% of the funds and has not received any, said Wilburn. She suggested that the Library would be open to negotiations on that matter so long as the city moves forward “on repairing the building and taking care of some of these maintenance needs, rather than expecting us to pull that out of our operating funds to where we have to cut our collection budget.”
Budget closely connected to IGA
The sudden movement on the IGA came as the Library Board opened discussions on their proposed budget for 2026.
Officials are projecting a $10.34 million operating budget for 2026. (By comparison, the city’s is close to $400 million.) Expenses are expected to outpace revenues by year’s end, leaving a deficit of $543,270 in the 2025 budget to make up, Sameer Notta, the city’s Finance Director, said in his presentation. The Library’s operating budget reserves, meanwhile, are projected to stand at just under $5.2 million by the end of 2025, minus $693,564 that the Library had to spend for a major sewer repair in front of the city-owned main branch building.
The Library’s debt service is also affected by the current arrangement with the city, with $547,823 of the library’s property tax revenue going toward paying off old projects, including renovations of the former North Branch Library building, which the city eventually sold, keeping the proceeds.
Notta presented Board members with three scenarios to consider for 2026, raising the Library’s property tax by 7%, 8% or 9%, to close the gap.
A 7% levy, which would add approximately $19.58 a year to the bill of a homeowner with a $400,000 home, shrinking the deficit to $97,267, Notta’s presentation showed. At 8% ($22.38 more a year on the Library tax bills) would drop the difference to $11,023; and at 9% ($25.18 more) the Library would be in the plus category, $75,220 over expenses.
Loss of federal money also a concern
At the Aug. 6 meeting, Rachlin maintained that the library would need to increase its levy by at least 5% annually to maintain its reserves.
In brief discussion Wednesday, trustee Michelle Mills, who heads the Library’s Finance Committee, declared that she “won’t be supporting any budget that leaves us with the deficit, in part, because we don’t know how much more federal money is at risk.”
The federal money goes through the states, which is where the Library draws the bulk of its share, “but there just continues to be too much swirl and turmoil around a lot of this funding,” she said.
Wilburn brought the issue back to the IGA, saying a big portion of trustees decision is related to the terms of a lease the Library gets from the city.
In the past, the Library has paid for a lot of its capital needs “out of our operating budget, which is why we need to ensure that we have (sufficient) fund balance,” she said. “Because if stuff goes bad — when the plumbing gets bad, when the sewer backs up, those are things we’ve had to take care of in the past.” She pointed out too that the library’s collection budget has “remained relatively flat, and every other library around us has much more they put into their collections for their public.”
The Library has set a goal of completing agreements with the city, by Sept. 30, she said, “so we can make responsible budget decisions for 2026,” she said after.
The timeline for Council review will ultimately be decided by the City, she said.