Tax Increase for Library on Shaky Ground
If the folks who oversee the Central Library Renovation Project are expecting an increase in taxes to pay for the project they may want to spend the next couple months trying toconvince at least two Republicans to vote “yes.”
Library officials Monday went before the City-County Council Municipal Corporations Committee (which oversees their budget) to lay the groundwork for a $45 million bond authorization to pay for overdue construction costs.
While Council members like Chairman Ron Gibson said the project has to be finished and bonds need to be sold, Democrat Sharon Franklin was very skeptical, saying the Library has asked the taxpayers for enough money. Franklin tells me she has no intention of voting to authorize the bond sale for the project, which officials say would
only amount to a $3 increase in the property tax bill on a $100,000 home.
Franklin says council members would not vote for a tax increase for public safety (to keep police and fire) but they are willing to raise taxes for a library. She said the city has to prioritize and the costs associated with sewer repair, child protection services, and the juvenile detention facility has already taken enough from the taxpayers.
Franklin says she has no intention of voting for a tax increase, which means the Library board and its supporters will have to find at least two Republicans to vote “yes” for the bond authorization. At this point in time, that is very unlikely.
It also doesn’t help that the Library would not guarantee that proceeds from pending litigation involving the renovation project would be used to retire the new library debt. Library Board President Lou Mahern told council members that money recaptured from any lawsuit could be used to retire existing debt that has a higher interest rate.
So as of now, by my count, if there were a full council vote to authorize the bonds for the library renovation it would fail 14-14, for lack of a majority.
