Library Director Doug Bean estimates the levy should cost the owner of a $100,000 home around $23 annually. The exact millage has yet to be determined, but Bean said it will either be 0.7 or 0.75 mills.
Bean said he fully understands the controversy emergency legislation has caused as of late.
“It’s not our decision,” Bean said. “It’s going to have to be emergency legislation to meet our timeline, but we will be asking them to look favorably on our situation.”
Bean said he plans to present the resolution to council during the group’s Feb. 2 meeting, then ask them to pass the ordinance as an emergency during their Feb. 16 meeting.
Councilmen Josh Laubach and A.J. Smith took a stand against emergency legislation at a Jan. 19 meeting, saying they need more time to review proposed ordinances before making a decision.
Laubach has not had enough time to review the library’s levy, but said he will not vote against it simply “for the sake of stopping it.”
“There are reasons the regular channels exist, but I’m not just going to stop a piece of legislation because it’s an emergency,” Laubach said. “If I feel it makes sense, I’ll move forward with it.”
Smith said he “does not think our council should rush into a decision because of someone else’s bad planning.”
In light of what is at stake with the library, however, he said he is still on the fence as to whether he will support the ordinance. At a time when a national recession is hitting local taxpayers, Smith said he is not sure asking them to pay more money for a “non-critical service” is the best idea.
Bean said the levy should generate enough money to get the library system — which has additional locations in West Chester and Trenton — back to where it was before drastic cutbacks. He estimates close to 25 percent of the library’s staff was eliminated through a combination of ongoing attrition and layoffs last fall.
“One source said this is only the second inning of a nine inning ball game,” Bean said. “So we really have to be cautious of that and aware that this is not the end of budget cuts from what we’ve heard.”
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