Somerset —
Some people are fed up with increasing library taxes, and they’re planning on doing something about it.
Nearly 30 people convened Thursday evening to discuss what meeting organizer Barbara Sanders called “runaway taxes” as set by the Pulaski County Public Library Board.
“(I) don’t have a thing against the library and their services, but they’re not accountable to anyone,” Sanders said.
Some at Thursday’s meeting expressed their support for the library, but others voiced frustrations with the increases.
The public backlash began in earnest after Pulaski County Public Library Director Charlotte Keeney appeared before Pulaski Fiscal Court this past summer to inform the magistrates that the library board had elected to accept the compensating tax rate for the 2012-2013 year.
The compensating tax rate was calculated to be 6.40 cents per $100 of real property, up from 6.30 cents last year. Tax rates for personal property also went up a fraction (7.65 to 7.66 cents).
A particular sticking point for frustrated citizens is the fact that the library’s rate is higher than Pulaski County government’s tax rate, which was set at 5.10 cents per $100 for real and personal property for the 2012-2013 year.
“I’m not an enemy of the library,” said former Pulaski County judge-executive Louie Floyd during the meeting. “I probably use the library as much as anyone else. We need a library.
“ ... I don’t like it when I see fiscal court taking less of your taxes than the library,” Floyd added.
The library’s budget for the 2012-2013 year totals $2,709,434. Of that, about $982,151 goes to personnel at the main branch located in downtown Somerset and at the library’s four other branches located in the county.
Keeney said on Friday the library employs 41 people, with 20 of those categorized as part-time, in the main library and in the branches.
That means just over half of the library’s budget is dedicated to personnel costs — which includes salaries, health and retirement benefits and more.
Former Pulaski County judge-executive Darrell BeShear said he learned during his years spent as the head of the county that any entity should not delegate more than 35 percent of its operating budget to personnel expenses. A quick search of what may be considered an appropriate budget amount for such expenses showed that health care businesses devote as much as 52 percent of the budget to employee costs, while manufacturing businesses devote as little as 22 percent.
A sample manifest of a minimal library budget provided through the Wisconsin Department of Public Information suggested that a library devote as much as 60 percent of its operating costs to personnel. A description of the budget for the Charlotte Mecklenberg Library in North Carolina shows that around 75 percent of its budget is usually dedicated to its personnel.
The library’s employees are receiving raises this year. Keeney has said this will be the first time in three years her employees have gotten raises.
“I haven’t gotten as raise in five years and I work for the state,” said one citizen during Thursday’s meeting, when the library’s salaries were brought up.
The library’s budget must also cover maintenance and repair costs for the main library and for the branches, which are located in Burnside, Nancy, Science Hill and Shopville.
“My budget is very, very tight,” Keeney said. “When something happens, like the air conditioning went out at Science Hill, I go ‘Where am I going to get this from the budget?’”
A quick glance at the library’s tax rates since the new main branch was opened in 2008 shows some fluctuation. The rate for 2007 was set at 5.90 per $100 of real property, and in 2008 that actually went down to 5.80.
Keeney, who took over as director in 2009, said that rate was the compensating number calculated through property value. Basically, property values had gone up (this was of course before the recession hit), which meant the board could charge less on the tax bills to ensure they received the same revenue as the year before.
The tax rate increased in 2009 to 6 cents per $100 of real property, and that rate stayed the same in 2010. It increased in 2011 to 6.30 cents per $100 — which caused quite a dust-up at fiscal court — and that rate went up to 6.4 cents for this year.
The library also pays a mortgage totaling $848,796 per year to go toward the cost of construction of the new main branch. This debt will not be paid in full until 2027.
Keeney said the tax rates would no doubt drop significantly should the library’s debt be paid in full.
“We would see where the operating costs were and it (the tax rate) would probably go down substantially,” Keeney said.
But that won’t happen until the library’s debt is paid in around 15 years.
The concerned citizens are looking to dissolve the library’s special taxing district — which operates autonomously and without supervision from the fiscal court — in hopes that the fiscal court will create a new district that will answer directly to the magistrates and judge-executive.
Since the library special district was created in 1967 by way of voter petition, it must be dissolved that way.
“There’s got to be some liability somewhere,” said one citizen.
The library board is made up of volunteers who serve staggered terms.
Currently, the board is made up of Jack Mandt, Elaine Wilson, Glenn Shackelford, David Durham and Jerry Claunch.
“ ... They don’t answer to anyone,” said Sanders.
Keeney said that her board takes every tax rate seriously, and she said they’re concerned about the library’s future.
The library offers a range of services besides books and other materials. Weekly and monthly classes about computer basics and job skills are held for free, and the library boasts a popular children’s program that offers activities through the week.
Keeney said many low-income and elderly individuals without access to the Internet often use the library’s computers for important tasks.
“Would we be able to offer those services that we offer now?” Keeney asked. “I’m not sure.”
Keeney said she’s worried that, should the library’s operations fall under direct supervision of the fiscal court, tax rates would be passed that would not cover the library’s operating costs.
The library is almost completely funded through tax revenue.
“I’d hate to see it (the library) operate differently,” Keeney said. “And I don’t know if it would ... we’re just in uncharted territory and we just really don’t know.”
BeShear suggested to magistrates Tommy Barnett and Mike Strunk, both in attendance during Thursday’s meeting, that fiscal court fund some type of study that would determine how many employees the library needs to operate.
“In government, you’d better know everybody’s job,” BeShear said. “You’ve got to know everybody’s job because here’s what happens ... People come to me and say ‘you’re working me to death. I need you to hire me another worker.’
“They just want to do less,” BeShear added.
Sanders said at least 51 percent of voters who voted in the last general election would need to sign petitions in order to dissolve the taxing district. Sanders said 12,635 people voted in the last general election in 2011. So 51 percent of that number would be around 6,443.
The next library board meeting, which the public is invited to attend, will be held at the Nancy Public Library on Monday, Oct. 8 at 9 a.m.
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