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Board Seeks Tax Increase To Save County Libraries
April 5, 2012
The West Florida Public Library Board voted unanimously Wednesday to request the Escambia County Commission directly levy a property tax increase to keep public libraries open in the county — including Century and the under-construction Molino Library.
The county may pull its $3.7 million contribution to the library system under a plan proposed by County Administrator Randy Oliver due to a projected $9.5 million budget shortfall.
With a vote of three of five commissioners, the commission can levy the .35 mils tax increase — about $35 on a $100,000 home. But if commissioners do not approve the tax increase, the issue could go to the voters as a referendum on the August ballot.
“The board will go after finding at least three commissioners to vote for the levy,” Bette Hooton, library board president, said following Wednesday’s meeting. “If that’s absolutely a no-go, we will go after the referendum.
“We are not going to go down without trying to save the Molino, Century and Southwest branch libraries,” she said.
The Escambia County Commission will consider the issue at its Committee of the Whole meeting at 9 a.m. on August 12. Wooton and Friends of the Library members are working to gather supporters to attend the meeting.
A yearly user fee of $50 imposed on every Escambia County resident that uses the library has also been suggested as a possible funding source to keep libraries open.
Pictured top: Construction is underway to convert the old Molino School into a library and community center. Pictured inset: The Century Branch Library. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
31 Responses to “Board Seeks Tax Increase To Save County Libraries”
@michelle! Ummm unfortunately you haven’t been to the Century library bc it ALWAYS has patrons inside! You should come and check out how AMAZING the Century Branch Library really is!
Unfortunately libraries are becoming a thing of the past. Go to any library anywhere, any day, anytime and there is hardly anyone there. There seems to be more staff then readers. It’s time to move on,
You can want and need a new car too, but that doesn’t mean this is the year
you can afford the thing.
If you’ve actually been in the Century Library, you would know that it’s not just a place for people to surf the web!!! It houses books that our children are reading and some that are required reads. Plus, stop and think for a moment…Have you evr been in a library? More than likely the answer is yes. It hasn’t changed that much from when you were in one.
So, we need a tax increase so some people can have internet access? Hmm…
Yeah, I’ve used Hughes Net. It is what my parents and other family members in the area currently have. Dial up is faster, therefore if my parents need to use the internet, they go the public library. The fact that it is considered high speed is a joke.
Try ATT if you don,t like hughes net. or just keep dial up. If you have dial up you must have a phone line.
Another tax increase on property owners? Why do we have to foot the bill? The taxpayers can’t afford this continual seizing by government.
Sorry, but libraries are not an essential service for county residents and computers/internet are not an entitlement.
No. No more taxes.
BTW, I am a taxpaying landowner and a voter.
I was against how much money this particular library was going to cost this
poor county. If they had looked around and figured a little harder I feel that
certainly they could have cut some corners and built this thing for less, even
if they had to build it at some other site. Every family knows it’s a fool’s errand
to spend more than you can afford.. I believe the children of this county
deserve a library and what is a better place for them to hang out than a library. At lease they are not bored and out doing the wrong things and being a problem to the community. Who knows maybe some of them would actually learn something useful. 2 things bother me.
The reason they are short which is because some ppl didn’t pay bills that
were needed to be collected so now we all pick up that tab even tho we had
nothing to do with the debt. The second problem is this was just to darned expensive
in this economy and working peoples budgets are stretched to the limits
as we are picking up the tabs all by ourselves, for welfare, medicare, medicaid,
unemployment, social security and so on, and so on. They will soon be impoverishing us all with their never ending spending habits. The rising gas costs
are hurting so manyt in the county also. I think we need a full accounting publicized of where every penny of this money has gone and what else is needed. Maybe they need to just STOP and wait for next years federal hand outs to finish this project. Gee that’s a thought actually waiting till you can afford the darned thing. Why does it have to be finished THIS year.
We need to cut the fat and stop spending.
We all must live within our budgets, when our money is cut we cut nonessentials from our budgets, internet, cable and other extras, so why are we getting a new library when we cannot afford it? I expect the government to cut extras just like I have to. LOST funds are being used to build the new library but not staff it, so if you dont have the money you dont have the money. As for a few extra dollars, I am just about a few extras dollars taxed out. My husband has lost his job and we are barely hanging on and yes we chose to live in a rural area with all its pros and its cons, if you can afford to get to the library you can afford a small users fee to pay for the staff and utilities. As for the tag office it is replacing a building that the lease is coming up on and it is state taxes that pay for it, remember when your tags doubled, that made you feel good didnt it? What a mess.
Citizen: that is like saying that every teenager is a delinquent. I think you would find that most people using the computers are 1) taking some sort of test for school 2) applying for unemployment (the unemployment office sends people to the library to file and get help), 3) applying for some kind of assistance (they also send to people to the library because they DON’T help anymore) 4) filling out job applications (and yes a lot of companies now make you apply on-line).
It would be humorous to go check the history of the computers at the library.
My guess?
Facebook and social networking will be the most visited sites, not something that’s actually useful.
We don’t need to be taxed anymore than we already are.
Just my .02 worth.
“Satellite internet service is high speed and is available everywhere. Dial up is a thing of the past unless you won,t it. Just call Hughes Net.”
Yeah, I’ve used Hughes Net. It is what my parents and other family members in the area currently have. Dial up is faster, therefore if my parents need to use the internet, they go the public library. The fact that it is considered high speed is a joke.
As a Republican I am in favor of reducing taxes but not about eliminating those taxes that are necessary for the welfare of the people. This is an appropriate use of our tax dollars compared to the vast waste of a large percentage of our Federal taxes.
While I agree the home computer is a wonderful educational tool, you must consider than not everyone can afford a computer or the reoccurring cost of an Internet connection. Library computers are heavily used and it would be a shame to close the doors on this community resource because of the current budget crisis.
As a reference, the average home in EC has a taxable value of $50,000 or $17.50 per year. A “Library Tax” –would be about a nickle a day and less than the monthly charge for a high speed Internet connection.
BTW, I am a library board member and a tax-paying county resident.
If the internet is vital to have good grades then lets can the teachers and provide only computers or just add a coffee shop that provides computers it would be much cheaper than supporting a library with hundreds of thousands of books that get checked out by a handful of people. And FYI the internet is available world wide, whether its dial up or broadband is up to where you decide to live. No one makes you buy a house in the country. So there is no sense in complaining about less services. There are city’s for a reason, you can have broadband, city water, city sewer, city garbage. And for the ones I have personally witnessed using the computers at various libraries, its not to study, its to play games or Facebook. I do not mind paying taxes to help low income people with necessities like state insurance or food stamps. But I DO mind paying taxes to benefit people to sit and goof off on the internet. I am sure that if you have a class in school that requires the use of a computer, then the school system will allow you to do the report in the library at the school.
So………………..the courts have ruled that Pensacola Beach leaseholders can and now are required to pay property taxes.
That windfall of many more millions per year is ignored so that the county can theaten to close librays if a tax increase is not done on all ?
Jessica,
Satellite internet service is high speed and is available everywhere. Dial up is a thing of the past unless you won,t it. Just call Hughes Net.
As a home owner and a tax payer, I vote no. Close the libraries till the empty houses sell. Selling bank owned houses will fix the problem. Not collecting taxes on empty houses is what started the states/counties budget shortfall to begin with. Raising taxes on those that didn’t default on their obligation with the mortgage lenders is not the solution.
Hello!!! There is a recession going on!!!!!!! It’s means cut wasteful spending and cut what you can do without!!!!! That means FIRST pay basic needs such as home, electricity, water, outrageous home insurance AND property taxes, automobile (to get to work), automobile insurance, high price gas (to put in vehicle to go to work) and FOOD if you have any money left. NO NEW LIBRARY!! NO MORE TAXES!! Now, I may go for a new HOMELESS SHELTER in north escambia because it will definitely be needed when money is being spent like this. Please search your hearts and see what this sounds like to someone struggling to get by. God Bless!
“This is not fair to the ones like me that pay for my internet service at home, and especially not fair to tax me so that others that wish to go play on the internet can do so at my expense.”
In today’s education system, having the internet is basically vital to having good grades. I graduated a decade ago, and it was already the case. But, unfortunately, all families can’t afford a computer and internet. So, they go to the library to do project research or type reports, ect. Some people require internet access for work. Some, like my father, live in rural areas where highspeed internet is required for there job, but unfortunately low speed dial up is all that is available. I’m sure all those people you see “playing” on the internet would much rather do so from the privacy of their own home.
I also DO NOT support a tax increase. I think libraries in today’s times are not a critical part of the learning system as they once were. Nowadays you can get just as much information if not more on the internet. I know for a fact that one particular library is 90 percent used only because kids and adults come in and play on the internet. This is not fair to the ones like me that pay for my internet service at home, and especially not fair to tax me so that others that wish to go play on the internet can do so at my expense.
@bill l
Thats what they are doing, cutting back.
No more taxes. There is already plenty of money collected. Cut back on things that are really not needed and wanted. This is what the real people do when they don’t have enough money to buy everything they want. Please don’t cry a river and beg for sympathy to raise taxes.
NO more taxes. NO NO NO NO!!!
molino school was big enough for a libary and tax office instead they spend more money on a total new tax office building.this was so stupied.they say they dont have no money and they keep spending money on stupied stuff.county employees cant get a raise but they can hire a big offical from up north.we county employees live on almost on min.wage but they keep spending money.they dont need that many commissioners to make divisions .they need to cut some of those big salaries but no they want to cut from the bottom.what a shame they have to be like this.
Tax Increase???? I can barely afford the gas it takes to run my kids to school everyday!!!
It is nice to see that ignorance still reigns in rural Escambia County. Let’s just burn all those books and shut down the libraries. We don’t need their book learning no ways. Learning things don’t make society better or reduce crime. Let’s just all be stupid because we don’t want to pay a few extra dollars a year.
County Commissioners if you’re reading this; I do NOT support a tax increase, and I certainly don’t support a tax increase for a library.
NO MORE TAXES!!!
Let the users pay for what they use, not the homeowners. There is nothing wrong with a library, but the users need to pay for it and not everyone.
USER FEES!!
Simple soultion: Close one or two of county funded ones in the city of Pensacola and keep those dedicated to the outlying areas in the county. I don’t understand why the West Florida Public Library Board hasn’t floated this idea yet, probably because board members live in the city limits.
How about making some budget cuts and cutting the commissioner’s salaries? They weren’t doing their job if they didn’t pay the bill!
And it all came tumbling down.