NLV studies library merger

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

The lines are being drawn in North Las Vegas over possible consolidation with the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

North Las Vegas officials have been weighing a merger with their larger neighbor, hoping to get a second library out of the deal for their 117,000 residents, but a recently released report shows consolidation would come with a price.

And Las Vegas-Clark County Library District officials say it's too early to tell whether a new library in North Las Vegas would be a priority for a combined district.

"We flat out cannot finance a new full-blown library, so consolidation has been something we've been considering as a possible option to get us the library we need," said North Las Vegas Mayor Montandon, who also serves on the North Las Vegas Library Board.

A report prepared by consultant Hobbs Ong & Associates Inc. for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District called a merger financially feasible and laid out the costs:

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District stands to gain $3.4 million from North Las Vegas residents over five years in a merger, the report said.

However, North Las Vegas residents, who already have higher property taxes than the city of Las Vegas, would have their taxes raised slightly -- $10.54 per year for a $100,000 home.

Las Vegas-Clark County Library Director Daniel Walters said he could not give specifics on how many -- if any -- libraries would be built in North Las Vegas if the districts are consolidated, because those matters are still being negotiated.

But the district is compiling a number of reports analyzing financial and growth data and by December expects to have a five-year plan for the district, including how many and where libraries need to be built.

When the report was discussed at the North Las Vegas Library Board meeting last week, residents' biggest fear was that if the districts merge, the city's lone library will be shut down.

Montandon said that will never happen.

"We go into these negotiations with some very clear stances -- our library does not get shut down, we get to have the first new library built, and we need representation on the board. We wouldn't even consider consolidation without those guarantees," he said.

The consultant's report will be formally presented to the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Oct. 12.

North Las Vegas Library Director Anita Laruy opposes the idea, because it would increase taxes and would offer no guarantee that additional libraries will be built in the city.

"The residents need their own district, they need their own identity," she said.

Laruy said the city should explore other options to build libraries, such as levying a bond or asking for donations from private foundations.

The city already owns land for a new library -- at the corner of Alexander Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard -- and was allocated $350,000 by the 1997 Legislature to design it.

But after the Legislature failed to provide $1.3 million to build the library and residents voted down a tax increase in 1995, the city looked elsewhere for help.

The Clark County Commission shot down a proposal last year by Montandon and Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates in which the county would give the city $5 million -- $2 million of which was a loan that the city would have to pay back.

Instead of funding the library, the county agreed to help bring a recreation center to the city by purchasing 11 acres of land on Alexander Road and Allen Lane.

Assemblyman Tom Collins, D-North Las Vegas, doesn't believe the Las Vegas-Clark County district will build libraries in the city and said city officials are being short-sighted by considering consolidation.

"I'm disappointed that the City Council would have pursued this," he said. "I appreciate the fact they are trying to get more libraries for North Las Vegas, but this is not the way to do it."

Collins believes the city will be able to raise the money to build its own library because of a proposal in next year's legislative session to remove the state's tax cap of $3.64 per $100 assessed property value per year. Deleting the cap would allow the city to levy a higher bond for the construction of libraries, he said.

The city's property taxes are $3.38 per $100 assessed value per year. Collins estimates that the city needs about 5 cents above the cap to start building its own libraries.

The consultant's report also addresses the city of Henderson, which would like to annex its Anthem development into the Henderson Library District. According to the report, if the area were annexed into the district, Henderson would gain $1.8 million over five years, while the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District would lose $2.4 million.

"The planners are telling us there will be 300,000 new folks in Clark County in five years and they are going to land all over the place," Walters said. "The value of consolidation is it provides an opportunity for a regional service solution as opposed to a more divided solution."

If consolidation is considered in North Las Vegas, it would have to go to the voters in a spring special election, Montandon said.

Until then, North Las Vegas library board members are figuring out a way to provide services to the city's northwest.

At a special meeting at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the North Las Vegas Library, the library board members will hear a proposal to open a 4,005-square-feet store-front library near Craig and Alexander roads. Laruy said the money is already available from its tax revenue, with the remaining funds coming from a grant.

The facility would offer a 10,000 book collection, Internet service, and children's programs.