Voters get bang for their bucks in backing county library levy

Mahoning County Issue 3, a 2.4- mill, five-year levy to fund and operate The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, arguably ranks as the best bargain on this fall’s ballot in our region.

But like any great buy, voters must look closely to discover its true quality, hidden benefits and significant cost savings. On Issue 3, appearances are downright deceiving.

Though the issue is billed partially as a tax increase to support the massive library network, it is so in name only. The net effect of passage would actually be an 11 percent reduction in tax dollars funneled into the library system.

Specifically, the library board placed a single real-estate tax levy on the fall ballot that would generate about $1.5 million a year less than the two existing library levies combined. Those levies provide about 58 percent of the funding for the system’s $17.6 million main budget. The other 42 percent comes from the state and from fines, fees and donations.

Under the library trustees’ plan, a current 1-mill levy would vanish from the books. In its place, voters face a single five-year issue that would renew a 1.8-mill levy and add six-tenths of 1 mill to it to generate $9.3 million annually. That’s a net reduction of 0.4 of a mill.

Of course, library administrators could easily have placed both levies up for renewal with great odds of passage. But library leaders decided not to play taxing games with voters just to gain an unnecessary funding cushion. They chose the high road of honesty, transparency and accountability.

Of course, cost savings to taxpayers only sweeten the deal for Mahoning County taxpayers who have a long history of supporting the exemplary 15-library network with their votes and their dollars — with good reasons.

“The No. 1 reason people should vote for the library levy is because of the community service the library provides and its inability to be replicated by any other institution,” said Heidi Daniel, director of the library system. Where else can residents find and borrow from a full range of print and electronic resources? Where else can they use state-of-the-art Internet networks to apply for jobs, conduct scholarly research or find suitable day care facilities for their children?

Property values

Even for the few individuals who have not exposed themselves to the many wonders of the libraries, the levy still proves beneficial. The presence of a robust and engaged library system strengthens property values and community worth, making that community more appealing to visitors and to potential new businesses.

With all of its benefits, it would be disastrous for the levy to fail simply because of misunderstanding. That’s why the library system is waging a highly visible and aggressive campaign to ensure voters realize that what they see on the ballot — a tax increase — is not what they get. Toward that end, regular users of the library should promote the levy with any and all potential voters to ensure the possible source of confusion and miscast votes is nipped in the bud.

The library board has set a fine example for other publicly financed entities in the region with its lesson in fiscal restraint. It has learned it can carry out its mission with fewer of county residents’ hard-earned tax dollars. The moral of its story is clear: less indeed can be more — more respect, more satisfaction and more support from the public it relies on to exist. The public should reward the system with a landslide yes vote in balloting now through Nov. 4.