Library Board Bulletin - The Referendum - Why Now?

Earlier this year, the Library Board made the decision to place a question on the November 4th ballot.  

The form of the question is determined by law, and as it appears on the ballot it will be quite lengthy. But what it asks, basically, is whether voters are willing to pay an additional .075 cents on their tax rate to build AND operate an expanded library and to provide more library services. The owner of a home worth $250,000 would pay about $5 more per month.
 
If the voters’ answer to that question is yes, it will mean the library will have the funds necessary to provide improved services and facilities where their children can be introduced to the written word, where students can find the information they need for their assignments, where adults can attend programs and classes to increase their knowledge, and where all can borrow books, audio-visual materials, magazines and software to keep themselves informed and enrich their lives.
 
Why now? With a slowing economy, this is a question the library board discussed at length. As residents and taxpayers in the library district, board members are subject to the same financial pressures as the rest of the residents of the district.
 
But many people have urged the board to increase the size of the library and improve its services. The cost of commercial construction will only increase as time goes on, and if we wait, we’ll get less building for more money. Interest rates are favorable now and that could mean we would get more building for our money.

In the end, the library board decided that the voters of the community should make the final decision on the future of their library. Failing to put the question on the ballot would have meant you would have no choice in the matter.
 
The only way to have your voice heard is to register to vote (which you can do at the library) and to actually go to the polls and cast your ballot on November 4, 2008.