Town of Chapel Hill Enacts $65 Annual Fee for Non-Town Residents

GOVERNMENT

By Adam Powell
Correspondent

CHAPEL HILL – With Orange County electing to substantially reduce its financial support for the Chapel Hill Public Library, the Town of Chapel Hill itself was forced to step up and meet the obligation. On September 23, the Council unanimously voted to enact a $65 annual fee for non-Chapel Hill residents of Orange County to borrow books and other materials from the Chapel Hill Public Library.

Town leaders suggested that without the county’s financial backing, they can no longer expect Chapel Hill taxpayers to subsidize free borrowing privileges for those Orange County residents who do not live within the city limits. The new fees will go into effect on July 1, 2027.

County funding allowed for free countywide library privileges; no longer the case

In addition to voting to enact the new $65 annual fee for non-Chapel Hill residents to utilize the local library, the Town of Chapel Hill voted to decline the reduced funding offered by the Orange County Commissioners and to foot the bill of keeping the library solvent itself.

For years, Orange County’s financial contribution to the Chapel Hill Public Library has allowed county residents to borrow books for free regardless of whether they live within Chapel Hill’s corporate limits. However, Orange County is gradually reducing its contribution to the Chapel Hill Public Library and plans to eliminate it entirely by fiscal year 2029.

As a municipal library, not a county library, the Chapel Hill Public Library is operated by the Town of Chapel Hill and is primarily supported by Chapel Hill taxpayers. Orange County operates its own public libraries in Hillsborough and Carrboro, which are primarily supported by county taxpayers — including people who live within Chapel Hill.

That creates an unusual overlap. Chapel Hill residents pay Orange County taxes that help support county libraries while also paying town taxes that support the Chapel Hill Public Library.

Meanwhile, Orange County residents living outside Chapel Hill have historically been able to use the Chapel Hill library’s borrowing collection for free because Orange County contributed money toward its operation.

Chapel Hill officials say accepting the county’s diminishing contribution would prevent the town from charging non-resident Orange County borrowers while simultaneously leaving Chapel Hill taxpayers responsible for an increasingly large share of the library’s operating costs.

Town of Chapel Hill Library Director Atlas Logan told council members the change was necessary to protect the library’s collections, programming, staffing and operating hours.

“As stewards of Chapel Hill tax dollars, we feel we can no longer provide free access to our collections for people who do not pay Chapel Hill taxes,” Logan told the council.

The funding disagreement between Orange County officials and the Town of Chapel Hill did not emerge overnight. In fact, the debate over who should pay for the Chapel Hill Public Library has been ongoing for nearly 70 years.

The Town of Chapel Hill began providing municipal library services in 1958. The town later acquired property along East Franklin Street in the mid-1960s, where its first formal library building opened in December 1967. From the beginning, questions arose about the library’s funding structure, which depended heavily on county money.

In spring 2023, the town commissioned a Library Task Force, which ultimately recommended that the county and town create a formula for county funding. But Orange County, unbound by those recommendations, decided to phase out and eventually end all funding for the Chapel Hill Library. With no other choice, the town acted quickly.

Library staff – reduced county funding could mean reduced services

Logan presented the staff’s determination to pursue the new fees as more than a dispute over which local government, the Town of Chapel Hill or Orange County, should pay the bill for the town library. Without support from county taxpayers or revenue from nonresident borrowers, Logan said the library would have less money for its collection, resulting in fewer titles and longer waits for popular materials. It could mean fewer programs for children, teenagers, adults and families. Eventually, it could affect staffing and library operating hours.

“As difficult as it is to make this recommendation to council,” Logan said, “this is a necessary step in order to safeguard our municipal library from truly detrimental impacts on our services and operations.”

Town officials suggested that once Orange County stops adequately supporting the library, residents living outside Chapel Hill should be treated similarly to other people whose local taxes do not fund the municipal system.

While the $65 charge may be a new thing for Orange County residents, it is not a new policy for the Chapel Hill Public Library. Residents of neighboring counties, including Durham, Chatham, Alamance and others, already pay $65 annually for borrowing privileges at the Chapel Hill library.

New proposal could affect up to 15,000 local accounts

Approximately 15,000 active Chapel Hill Public Library card accounts belong to Orange County residents who live outside Chapel Hill. After waiting nearly a year to implement the fee until the summer of 2027, town leaders also decided to conservatively phase in the new fee structure. Town officials anticipate that about one-third of account-holding residents, about 5,000 people, will pay the annual fees at first, generating an initial flow of about $320,000 into the town’s coffers.

According to Logan, that would exceed what Orange County planned to contribute to the Chapel Hill Public Library in fiscal year 2028.

Importantly, the fee does not mean non-Chapel Hill residents will be prohibited from entering or using the Chapel Hill Public Library. All free services that have been available for years at the library will remain available to all residents, regardless of residency. The $65 charge, effective July 2027, applies specifically to borrowing books and other materials that residents are allowed to take away from the site for checkout.

There are numerous exceptions, including local students and town employees who live outside the city limits. Students in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) who live outside Chapel Hill will continue receiving free library card access under an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the school system and the Town of Chapel Hill. In addition, current Town of Chapel Hill employees will still be allowed to use the library for free.

“We do have an existing MOU with them (CHCCS) for free library card access,” Logan told the council.

Chapel Hill Mayor Jessica Anderson, in comments just before the unanimous vote, acknowledged that the recommendation was not one library staff wanted to make. Similarly, Town Council members had not hoped for the outcome, but needed to consider “the overall sustainability of our library system and our amazing library.”

“I know this was not one recommendation that you were hoping to bring at all,” Anderson told Logan.

Adam Powell has been a correspondent for The Local Reporter since 2023. A 2001 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Powell has served as managing editor of multiple local publications, including the News of Orange County, the Mebane Enterprise, the Caswell Messenger, and the ACC Sports Journal. The author of four books. Adam currently resides in Mebane with his wife Julie and children Colt and Jenna. This reporter can be reached at:Information@TheLocal Reporter.press