
Kathy Bolling
89:04 - 89:53
"the borough, whether or not it— the library's gonna be a borough department, may decide to only allow the budget to increase 3%, 4%, 5% a year. And if you're If your costs are 8-10% in 5 years, are you also thinking about the impact if your budget gets reduced 15-20% in 5 years?"
“the borough, whether or not it— the library's gonna be a borough department, may decide to only allow the budget to increase 3%, 4%, 5% a year. And if you're If your costs are 8-10% in 5 years, are you also thinking about the impact if your budget gets reduced 15-20% in 5 years?”
- Speaker
- Kathy Bolling
- Timestamp
- 89:04 – 89:53
- Community
- Alaska News
- Location
- Ketchikan
- Captured at
- July 9, 2026
From the transcript
Uh, the, the borough, whether or not it— the library's gonna be a borough department, may decide to only allow the budget to increase 3%, 4%, 5% a year. And if you're If your costs are 8-10% in 5 years, are you also thinking about the impact if your budget gets reduced 15-20% in 5 years? That's what we— not the 5% or not the 5-year scenario, but yes, we are looking at impact statements through those kinds of scenarios. Scenarios, or like 3 or 4% cap, hard cap on the library's budget.
Related Coverage
Ketchikan's library could lose 40% of its budget — and who picks the books is part of the fight
The Ketchikan Gateway Borough voted to terminate its library services agreement with the city effective December 31, 2026, putting roughly 40% of the public library's budget at risk. A citizens' petition drive had 289 signatures as of Tuesday and needs at least 400 by July 20 to place a borough-wide library powers measure on the October ballot.
