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Voters pass library levy
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Many Mahoning County voters love their library.
Unofficial totals Tuesday showed 59 percent of voters passing the library tax with 41 percent saying no.
Though the ballot language termed it an increase, the measure actually decreases real estate taxes.
By law, the language had to refer to a “renewal and increase” because the library sought to renew its existing 1.8-mill levy while adding 0.6 mill, totaling 2.4 mills. The 0.6 mill replaces a 1-mill levy that is set to expire.
“We’re very, very pleased,” said Heidi Daniel, library director.
The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County operates 15 library branches across the county.
The new, reduced levy will generate about $9.3 million annually for five years. The levies it replaced generated about $10.8 million annually.
The lower tax will cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $7 per month.
“I think voters in Mahoning County really love their library,” Daniel said. “It’s been a surprise to me since I came here how much people in Mahoning County really embrace their library system. That feeling really resonates when they see that we try to be good fiscal stewards, even though the ballot language was confusing. We’re trying to both give them quality materials and be strong fiscal stewards.”
The reduced levy goes into effect in 2015.
Daniel said that patrons will continue to see high- quality service and high- quality materials.
Library officials have said that the system will be able to operate with less money because no major construction projects are planned after the Canfield branch is complete and the main library in downtown Youngstown is renovated.
The new Canfield branch is estimated at $5 million while the cost of the main- branch renovation is pegged at about $14 million.
Updates also are planned for the aging West Side branch.
More than $4 million in contracts were awarded to companies in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys by the library board last September for construction of the new 18,135-square-foot Canfield branch.
It will replace the 5,104-square-foot branch built in 1969. A temporary Canfield branch is open at the Mill Creek MetroParks Farm on Columbiana- Canfield Road.
Daniel said work to renovate the main branch is likely years away.
“We need to create more community space, more meeting space,” she said.
The building also must be updated to become a modern library while maintaining the historic integrity of the building.
“We operate completely debt-free,” Daniel said.
About 58 percent of the library system’s annual operating budget comes from local real-estate taxes with state funding providing the remainder.
The library system’s 2014 operating budget is about $14 million and it employs 182 staff members.