It's important to protect children, provide libraries

Protecting the next generation and nourishing the minds of all generations are obvious priorities for any modern American community.
Trumbull County voters will be deciding two important tax issues that address these needs: a five-year renewal of the Children Services 2-mill levy and an additional 0.6 mill levy for the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library.
Protecting children
This will be the fourth time the Trumbull County Children Services Board levy, which dates to 1986, will be renewed for a five-year period, with no increase in the amount collected. The levy produces $4.8 million, and while it appears on the ballot as a 2-mill renewal, the adjusted millage is actually just 1.2 mills. As the county's evaluation has risen, the effective millage has decreased by law, so as to avoid a tax windfall for the CSB.
Keeping within its budget is a challenge for the CSB, which investigates thousands of reports of abuse and sexual abuse a year and provides special services, including residential and foster care, for children in need.
And that challenge is likely to become greater in the future. It is a sad fact that as a local economy is affected by factors out of its control, individuals and families are put under greater stress. And when that happens, children too often suffer. At times such as those, the safety net that Children Services provides is especially important.
It is also a fact that CSB facilities are aging, with some dating to the 1960s. Yet Robert A. Kubiak, CSB executive director, says the board has a long-range plan for capital improvements and it intends to develop the necessary facilities while staying within the agency's budget.
CSB has kept a rein on expenses by staff reductions through attrition and consolidation of duties and by instituting employee co-payments on health insurance premiums.
The agency is accredited by the New York City-based Council on Accreditation, is a member of the Child Welfare League of America and has had no negative findings in financial audits by the Ohio Auditor's Office and the Ohio Department of Job & amp; Family Services.
The levy costs the average owner of a home in Trumbull County about $2.50 per month. Because protecting children from abuse is one of the things a society must do, The Vindicator urges approval of the CSB renewal.
Library issue
Time, technology and the cost of doing business have caught up with the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, forcing the board to seek a 0.6-mill additional levy for current expenses.
If the issue fails, the library board will have to trim at least $250,000 a year from the budget, which would mean cuts in staff, hours and services at all locations, as well as bookmobile and delivery service for the homebound. The budget has already been trimmed from $5.5 million in 2002 to $4.2 million last year, primarily because of continuing reductions in the support received from the state. Hours have already been cut at the main library, and acquisitions have been curtailed.
Besides the main library in Warren, the system has branches in Brookfield, Cortland, Howland, Liberty and Lordstown. Plans to build a new branch in Cortland have been abandoned.
Libraries are important community assets for people of all ages, from preschool to post-retirement. This levy would add about $18 a year to the property taxes on a home appraised at $100,000.
That's a small investment for what a strong library system provides. The Vindicator highly recommends passage of this quality-of-life levy.