Oakland Township reaches temporary contract agreement with library

ROCHESTER HILLS/ROCHESTER/OAKLAND TOWNSHIP — Oakland Township has reached a temporary agreement with the Rochester Hills Public Library for library services.

Rochester Hills Public Library Director Juliane Morian said the temporary agreement extends library services for Oakland Township through the end of 2025, using the current contract parameters.

When the library was first formed in 1924, Rochester Hills voters agreed to set funding to 1.0 mill in perpetuity. Both contract agreements for the library’s partner communities, beginning in 1967 for Oakland Township and 1968 for Rochester, were set up in the same manner – 1.0 mill in perpetuity based on the taxable value of property, according to officials.

The library serves the residents of Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township. While all three municipalities pay tax money to operate the library, Morian said the communities of Rochester and Oakland Township do not have a vote on the library board, according to the charter, since they contract with the library for services.

She further explained that the contracts mean the three communities receive equal access to library services and materials, even though the actual amount paid by each municipality varies.

In the two contract communities, Morian said, the annual payment adjusted for the  Headlee Amendment is currently levied at less than a mill — a 0.68 mill for Rochester and a 0.57 mill in Oakland Township, paid for via two millages. In Rochester Hills, the annual payment is levied at 0.73 mill due to the Headlee rollback. One mill is $1 per $1,000 of a home’s taxable value.

The Headlee Amendment to the Michigan Constitution requires local governments to reduce their millage rates if taxable values go up higher than the rate of inflation.

Although the costs to run the library have risen over the years, Morian said the library’s millage rate had not changed since it was approved by voters in 1924. So last year, the library asked voters in Rochester Hills to consider additional funding. On Aug. 6, 2024, Rochester Hills voters approved a 0.39 mill increase for 10 years.

At that time, the library delivered the same request to Oakland Township and Rochester, which each elected not to bring a millage before their voters. So the Rochester Hills Public Library Board communicated that the same funding request would be made in proportion to what Rochester Hills residents pay — on a per capita basis — with a new contract for service.

“The RHPL Board has a fiduciary obligation, first to the residents of Rochester Hills to ensure proper funding of the library for long-range needs, and second to ensure contract communities receive full access to all library services by paying an equitable amount,” Rochester Hills Public Library Board President Bob Bonam said in a statement.

The agreement to extend library services for both Oakland Township and the city of Rochester was approved by the Rochester Hills Library Board at their February meeting.

“We are just pulling forward the old contract terms for both (the) Oakland Township Library Board and for the city of Rochester for the remainder of this year, so that we can create a little more space where we can then finalize the long-term agreement that we hope will commence on Jan. 1, 2026, for both communities,” Morian explained.

Oakland Township’s temporary contract was presented first and signed by the Oakland Township Library Board, because the old contract would have expired at the end of March.

The temporary agreement with Oakland Township gives the township’s library board and the library more time to discuss a final, long-term contract, without any disruption of library service for residents this year.

“This temporary unanimous agreement is a testimony to the positive working relationship between the two boards and affirms the forward momentum desired between all parties to reach a final agreement for service,” Oakland Township Library Board President Jim Kiefer said in a statement.

This spring, Morian said the Rochester Hills Public Library Board will present the addendum to extend Rochester’s contract with the library until the end of the year. Rochester’s contract does not expire until July 1, so she said there is more time to finalize their temporary agreement.

The library, Morian explained, has “a great, positive working relationship with both the Oakland Township Library Board and the stakeholders at the city of Rochester.”

“Everyone agrees that we go farther when we work together, and we want to see library services continue for both communities. A change like this does take time and we needed to create that space where we could figure out what were the questions that both communities had for the library, how we could best answer and (address) those, but also come up with a fair method of charging for municipal services that the citizens of Rochester Hills would be comfortable with as well,” she said.

Updating the contracts, Morian explained, allows all parties to modernize their agreements to keep them in line with contemporary costs for library services, bring contracts for all communities into parity with one another, and align renewal terms with the calendar year.

For more information, visit www.rhpl.com.