New Library Estimates

This chart is in the report prepared for the City Council meeting on Jan. 20.

Plaza Station Library Estimate Increases to $37 Million

Construction of a library in the El Cerrito Plaza BART Station Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) would cost $37 million, according to a recent estimate provided to the city by consultant Griffin Structures. The cost was previously estimated by the city at $21 million in 2023, and a “guesstimate” of $28 million was posted in August 2025 by the Committee for a Plaza Station Library.

Estimates for Five Library Options

Estimates of other library options were $10 million to renovate the existing 6,500-square-foot library, $29 million to rebuild and expand the existing library to 13,000 square feet, $43 million to build a new stand-alone library on a new site, and $29 million to renovate an existing building into a library. The last two options assume a library size of 20,000 square feet.

Parking Garage Costs

One key factor in the library cost estimates is parking. Griffin estimated the cost of adding a parking structure at $6.4 million at the current library site and $4.7 million on a new site. The Plaza library location would have no dedicated parking.

On the Agenda for Jan. 20

The city staff report will be presented at the Tuesday, Jan. 20 City Council meeting. It is now available online as part of the agenda packet for the meeting.

A Library Task Force?

A city staff report prepared for the meeting recommends that the City Council appoint a library task force to begin work in spring 2026.

If there is identified funding for a library in 2026, the task force would work with staff to review options and make recommendations to the City Council. If funding is not identified in 2026, the library task force would discuss interim investments required to maintain operations, according to the staff recommendation.

The phrase “if funding is identified” seems to refer to the library tax initiative which recently qualified for the ballot in 2026 and whether it passes.

Library Tax Measure Has Qualified

A library tax initiative written by former City Councilmember Greg Lyman has qualified for the ballot in 2026. When to place it on the ballot -- either June or November -- will be discussed at the Jan. 20 council meeting.

To qualify for the ballot, supporters of the library tax initiative had to submit valid signatures from 10% of registered voters in El Cerrito. They started collecting signatures around July 4, 2025, and submitted petitions to the city on Nov. 20. The signatures were checked by the county clerk-recorder and found to contain 2,177 valid signatures, or 12.99% of registered voters in the city of El Cerrito.

On Jan. 9, 2026, City Clerk Holly Charlety certified the petitions as sufficient to qualify for a ballot in 2026.

Which 2026 Ballot?

At the Jan. 20 meeting, the council will discuss when to place the initiative on the ballot.

The June 2026 election is preferred by initiative supporters.

To add the measure to the June ballot, Lyman said the council would need to take action between 103 and 88 days prior to the June 2, 2026 election date. That time frame is from Feb. 19 to March 5, he said.

No Construction Cost Stated in Ballot Measure

The ballot measure language does not specify a total cost for the library.

It would authorize a special tax of up to 17 cents per square foot of improved building area per year, or $340 per year on a 2,000 square foot house. This would apply to all building types and there would be a tax of $100 per year on each vacant parcel. The tax would be subject to an annual cost of living increase.

Past Cost Estimates

At a campaign launch on May 7, 2025, Lyman said the actual tax would probably be less than 17 cents per square foot of improved building space.

The tax collected could only be used for planning, building and furnishing a new library plus the city’s costs of operating the library for 10 years.

In November 2023, the cost of building a 20,000 square foot library at El Cerrito Plaza BART on the ground floor of an apartment building on Fairmount Avenue and Liberty Street was estimated at $21.2 million, so a reasonable updated estimate is about $24 million, he said on May 7.

Is Library Location Decided?

The library tax initiative does not state that the library must be built at a specific location.

However, a majority of City Council members have supported a library at the Plaza Station location since at least 2019. Mayor Gabe Quinto, Mayor Pro Tem Rebecca Saltzman, and council members Lisa Motoyama and Carolyn Wysinger have stated they support a library there. Council member William Ktsanes has not taken a position. Building a library there was voted into the current city strategic plan. Lyman is treasurer of the Committee for a Plaza Station Library and has said he believes it is the best library location choice.

Arguments from Critics

Considerable opposition has been voiced to the Plaza library plan over the last year and to the library tax over the last six months.

Critics have argued that the library tax proposal is risky, expensive, and not the type of library that El Cerrito needs now. Two leading opponents, Barbara Chan and Wally Nowinski, spoke this fall to local groups and have said they plan to launch a campaign against the library tax.

The Plaza location has been a focus of criticism, with Nowinski calling the plan “a handout to the developer.”

Critics argue that the proposed library would be in the most congested part of town, would have no dedicated parking, would not be owned by the city, and lease negotiations would tie the library’s future to that of BART and its developer. They argue against planning an expensive new library there with BART facing a “fiscal cliff” and no known timeline for funding five of the six buildings approved for BART parking lots.

Their website is https://www.nomoreforevertax.org/

Looking at Library Options

Lyman said on Jan. 10 that the city should go through a process of looking at possible library alternatives.

The current website for supporters is the Committee for a Plaza Station Library at https://c4psl.org/.