Monday, March 8, 2010
Perspective on the Proposed Library District Tax Rate
Say you have a house with an assessed value of $350,000. Your annual support of the library district would be $245. That would be 67 cents per day. In other words, would you give up one package of Sara Lee Frozen Fruit Pies per week to keep the library open?
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Where can one get more information about how the numbers break down? In other words, how much in total this equals for the library a year and how those funds will be allocated?
ReplyDeleteNot ignoring this question, but I want to talk with the folks developing the proposed budget before I answer--to make sure I have the latest info and that it's correct.
ReplyDeleteThe initial budget for the library district is still being developed and has to be negotiated with the County because the district, if approved, will start operations on July 1, 2010, with no money. The County has agreed to loan sufficient funds to sustain the budget until tax money starts being collected in November 2010. So far, I’m told, it appears the operating budget will be about $860,000 with an additional $105,000 for collections (books, magazines, newspapers, DVDs, etc.), and $155,000 for personnel. Keep in mind that the district will have to provide for itself all the maintenance, accounting and other services that have been provided by the County at no extra cost up until now. Plus, of course, the district will have to pay back that loan from the County as quickly as possible.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the $860,000 operating budget covering? Also, again, how much does .70 per $1,000 of assessed value = in total for the county? In other words, how much will this tax equal in total for the county? I'm absolutely for the library, just looking for more information on what these numbers mean.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, keep in mind that the .70 per $1,000 is the maximum tax rate that can be imposed by the district. It will be up to Library Board what tax rate is actually imposed each year. That being said, probably the initial tax rate will be close to the maximum because of the necessities to repay the County loan and also establish a reserve fund. It’s estimated the maximum tax rate in the first year would bring in $1,181,540. The operating budget includes any services the county continues to provide such as accounting and bookkeeping (which will now have to be paid for), plus repair and maintenance of the building, computer and other equipment, legal and audit fees, telephone and other utilities, all supplies, janitorial services, insurance, vehicle expenses, and so on--everything required to keep a business in business.
ReplyDeleteHow much do library patrons pay for membership? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSo the proposed budget is 1.12M dollars for next year (860k+105k+155k). Elsewhere on your site I've read the # of registered borrowers is 19,146 members. So, each member would have to pay $58.50 / yr for membership to fully fund the budget.
ReplyDeleteOK, maybe that's not so fair, I'm sure many of these registered borrowers don't really use the library too often, and we couldn't expect them to pay $58.50 / yr for a membership to something they don't use. So let's take the attendance #, which are active users, so we could expect them to pay for library use. $1.12M / 5,737 active users (2009) would be $195 in dues per year (less than your "measly" $245 above).
So, who should pay, the homeowner or renter (the homeowner will just pass on increases in rent to a renter), or the individuals who actually use the library?
Isn't this just another redistribution tax?
Library patrons in Hood River, just like library patrons in virtually every other community in the United States, do not pay a membership fee. We believe--and we think most people will agree--that a library contributes substantially to the quality of life in a community, not to mention the property values, and should be supported by the community as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI feel my taxes are high enough already.....I would like to see a budget breakdown before voting If the tax rate was .30 I would vote yes If county timber sales return to a higher amount would that lower the tax....
ReplyDeleteIf the tax rate was .30 the library couldn't stay open anyway. Keep in mind that the .70 rate is a maximum that can ever be charged. BUT, to simply restore the hours and staff that were in place before this year's 30% cut would mean a rate somewhere in the 60s anyway. Since the entire staff is currently part-time with no benefits and the book budget is exactly zero, there would have be some restoral for the library to simply survive. If you feel it's not worth it for the community to have a library, then that's your choice--but be prepared for the negative impact on property values and economic development. In answer to your other point, once the district is established the county no longer has anything to do with the running or maintenance of the library so increased timber sales would have no effect.
ReplyDeleteI donate money for charities that can organize...like Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
ReplyDeleteI refuse to vote yes and "donate" my taxes to a unorganized county gov't. If this passes, Id like to see how long it takes before we're asked to pay more.
I would like to see a breakdown of the library budget where can I get one?
ReplyDeleteI think you must have to go to the county to get the breakdown of the library budget. Notice this question was asked twice already in this post and the best detail was $860,000 'operating costs' $105,000 for collections and $155,000 for personnel. $860,000 for 'operating costs' seems so vague - I wish someone would've broken this down so it made more sense to me. I would like to know what the 71,666 per month is spent on.
ReplyDelete