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Dayton Metro Library, 7 others asking voters to pass levies

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By Lynn Hulsey, Staff Writer 9:19 PM Saturday, September 19, 2009

DAYTON — The stakes could not be higher for Dayton Metro Library when Montgomery County voters go to the polls on Nov. 3 and consider Issue 40, a 1.75 mill replacement property tax levy.

The existing levy expires Dec. 31 so if voters reject the new levy, the library loses nearly $9 million annually beginning Jan. 1. That is a 35 percent loss of revenue that Executive Director Tim Kambitsch called “catastrophic.”

Add in state budget cuts and losses that are being covered this year by one time use of reserves, and Kambitsch said the library system will have no choice but to begin immediate cuts — closing branches, shortening hours, laying off workers, decimating the materials budget. He said costs will need to be cut by 50 percent.

The 1.75 mill levy is a continuing levy that replaces the current 1.25 mill five year levy. The new levy would bring in about $13.6 million, about $4.6 million more than the $9 million the current levy is expected to generate this year, according to Marty Moore, finance manager for the Montgomery County auditor’s office.

The Dayton Metro Library serves all of Montgomery County, but the levy is not voted on or assessed in Oakwood, Centerville-Washington Twp. and Germantown, which have their own library systems.

Kambitsch said the new levy revenue is not enough to replace lost state funding that has occurred and is expected to continue next year. So unlike previous campaigns, library officials find themselves with not much new to promise if voters approve the money.

“We are going to preserve the quality of the service that we have,” said Kambitsch. “If the levy fails all that goes out the window.”

While there may be restoration of part of the $1 million cut from the materials budget if the levy passes, Kambitsch said some reduction in library services still will be necessary. He anticipates engaging the community in a dialogue about what those cuts would be and what kind of library system people want.

“We are having to reinvent ourselves,” said Barbara Hayde, president of the board of trustees.

Library officials are emphasizing the relatively low cost of the new levy and the value of the library to the community, especially in a struggling economy when free library services are needed more than ever.

The proposed tax levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $53.59 annually, up from the current annual levy cost of $35.06, Moore said.

That translates to $4.46 a month, about $1.54 more than the current levy costs.

“That’s less than a Starbucks coffee,” said Hayde.

The Dayton Metro Library is the largest system in the region, but it is not the only one asking voters to approve more money for their library system.

Statewide there are 36 property tax levies and one bond issue for library systems, of which 28 are for new money, said Lynda Murray, director of government and legal services for the Ohio Library Council.

That is about 2.5 times higher than the previous record number set in May, Murray said.

Local voters are being asked to pony up for libraries in Montgomery, Greene, Warren and Miami counties. Levies are on the ballot for Wright Memorial Library in Oakwood; Greene County Library; Troy-Miami County Library, Tipp City Library; Lebanon Library; Springboro-Franklin Library and the Mary L. Cook Library in Waynesville.

Libraries across the state have been hit with the state funding cuts and a decline in local revenues related to the real estate crash and investment income losses.

“As we go through the decline in the economy we’ve lost funding,” said Murray. “It’s sort of a series of perfect storm issues. Not just for libraries. It’s across the board.”

The Dayton Metro Library has been struggling with state funding issues since 2001, watching revenues from the state decline 31 percent since then. The tanking economy only made things worse, putting Kambitsch in budget-cut mode all year. He recently reached agreement with the union representing 280 employees on a package of concessions that include a pay freeze, furloughs and closure of library branches on certain days.

Even with a slew of cuts the library system will dip into reserves to help close the gap between expenditures of $27.2 million and revenues of $25.3 million this year.

If the levy fails the changes will be dramatic because revenues drop 35 percent. Add in state budget cuts and losses being covered this year by use of reserves and Kambitsch said he will have to cut costs by 50 percent next year. He predicts he will have to lay off half the staff, close more than half the branches, reduce hours, close all but one main library floor, and dramatically reduce book buying.

If the levy fails the changes will be dramatic. Kambitsch is predicting he will have to lay off half the staff, close more than half the branches, reduce hours, close all but one main library floor, and dramatically reduce book buying.

The library system could try again in the May primary, likely for a smaller levy amount. If that would pass the library could then borrow against the anticipated revenues, which would not begin to flow until 2011, and pay interest on the debt while cutting costs enough to suit the lender, Kambitsch said.

Library officials originally wanted to ask for a 2-mill levy but feared that the tough economy would lead voters to reject it. They also had hoped to be on the May ballot so they would not be competing with the FiveRivers MetroParks levy and other community and school levies in November. But Kambitsch said it would have been too expensive to put it on the May ballot.

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