Library Levy Support Needed

Send to friend

Listen to the broadcast here.

Hello, this is Arlene Radden, Director of the Holmes County District Public Library for the Voice of Holmes County.com

As I visit with community members around the county to let them know about our library levy on the ballot this November, I have heard from many property owners who are feeling overtaxed.

As a Holmes County property owner myself, I can understand this sentiment.

As a library director and as someone who highly values education in all forms, I suppose I have a different view when it comes to supporting vital community services. And I do believe that the services and programs that the library provides ARE vital to the citizens of Holmes County and deserve your support.

The Holmes County District Public Library currently receives 96% of its funding through the state of Ohio’s general revenue fund. What many people do not know is that many of the additional license fees and revenue to be generated from video lottery terminals at race tracks will not increase funding to public libraries in Ohio. The portion of the general revenue fund that comprises the Public Library Fund are taxes that include personal income tax and other taxes paid by businesses and individuals. Due to the declining economy, the library receives 20% less funding than we did in 2008.

In order to balance the budget, the Governor proposed an additional 30% cut to library funding in Ohio. Many patrons responded to our call to help protect library service in Ohio. If this proposal had been approved by the legislature, many libraries around the state would have essentially been put out of business. Fortunately, the cut was reduced to 11%. Yet, this still totals a 31% cut in library funding for 2009 and even more cuts likely to come in 2010 and 2011. I imagine that many businesses would not be able to survive with almost a third of their revenue gone within such a short period of time. Yet, we DO survive as best we can at the moment.

These cuts in funding also have occurred after a nearly seven year period of flat funding for libraries. In response to these cuts in funding, we have dramatically reduced our services and programs to patrons. Hours of operation have been cut, book budgets have been slashed, programs cancelled and a bookmobile has been taken off the road for the Fall schedule. Also, about a third of the staff has been laid off and many other behind the scenes cuts have been made to balance our budget for 2009.

The library has placed an .8 mil on the November ballot. If your home is valued at $100,000.00 you will pay an additional $25.20 in taxes per year. In other words, for the cost of one hard-cover book per year, you would help to restore library hours of operation system-wide, restore spending on books and other library materials, restore library programming, restore bookmobile stops, save county-wide library service and restore financial stability to the library.

Many times when we pay taxes, we are not sure where our money is going and how it will be used. If you decide to support the library’s levy issue on the November 3rd ballot, you will KNOW FOR SURE where your dollars are going and that they will be put to use to preserve library service for all ages in the county.

Holmes County is a great place to call home for many reasons. The strength of our local services is a very important reason why this is a great place to live and work.

To find out more about the library and the levy placed on the November ballot, call me anytime or log on to our website at www.holmeslibrary.org for more information.

Thanks for listening. This has been Arlene Radden, Director of the Holmes County District Public Library for the voice of holmes county.com