May 3 tax request
How much: 1.3 mills
How long: 5 years
For what: Operating
More information: Call the library at (937) 773-6753
PIQUA — With another cut in state funding to libraries announced last week, the Piqua Public Library continues to see income decline while use grows.
Computer use alone has increased an estimated 300 percent during the last couple of years as more people without home computers depend on free computers to look for jobs and fill out forms that have to be filed electronically, said Jim Oda, library director.
The most recent funding cut of 5 percent “by itself is not bad,” Oda said, “but the problem is it is on top of the last budget cycle cuts. And, it hurts.”
To replace lost state funding and five years of private funding that will expire next year, the library is asking voters May 3 to approve a 1.3-mill, five-year operating levy.
“This won’t add anything, but will keep us going,” Oda said. The private funding was $300,000 over five years given to the library by an anonymous donor.
The proposed levy would cost the owner of home with a $100,000 value a total of $39.81 a year, according to the Miami County Auditor’s Office.
Oda likes to break it down to the cost of 11 cents a day.
A 1.1-mill, five-year levy failed in November. Afterward, Sunday hours were cut and programming for children and adults reduced.
The decision was made to make the May levy request a bit larger to help offset the latest state budget cut which was anticipated, though the amount not known, at time of the filing deadline for the May ballot.
“We are basically running out of things to cut,” Oda said. “If this levy does not pass, we will have to cut deeper. That will mean fewer of everything across the board.”
The library’s annual budget includes a little more than $1 million in spending. The levy would bring in $527,000 a year.
Oda said he and library supporters would be glad to talk to organizations to explain the free services offered by the library and the funding issues the library faces. For more information, contact Oda at (937) 773-6753.
Contact this reporter at nancykburr@aol.com or (937) 339-4371.
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