White Oak Makes 5th Try For Referendum

ROMEOVILLE, IL — White Oak Library District officials are hoping the fifth time's the charm. After a referendum was defeated for the fourth consecutive time in March, officials are once again appealing for additional funding.

The library district notes on its website that its operating tax rate was 18 cents per $100 of assessed value, and "89 years later, our operating tax rate is 18.54 cents per $100 of assessed value." On the Nov. 6 ballot, the district is asking that the rate be increased to 21.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, a rate hike that it says would case the average homeowner $1.40 more per month, or $16.80 per year.

District officials say the library will use the additional funds to improve library services — a long-awaited goal of the district since it revamped its existing libraries and built a new Crest Hill branch several years ago.

In 2010, a successful $23 million referendum allowed the library district to purchase and renovate the Romeoville branch, renovate and add a 5,000-square-foot addition to the Lockport branch and build a brand-new Crest Hill library.

But that same year, the library reduced its weekly hours from 68 to 60 at each branch. "We seek not only to restore those lost hours, but also add a few more based on the feedback we received in our public user survey," the library said.

The library hopes to secure funding for a new schedule at each branch:

• Sunday: Open an hour earlier (current hours 1 to 5 p.m.)
• Monday-Thursday: Open an hour earlier and stay open a half-hour later (current hours 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.)
• Friday: Open an hour earlier, stay open two hours later (current hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
• Saturday: Open an hour earlier (current hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

The increase would also allow the library to create a digital media lab where residents and business owners could transfer VHS to DVD, restore family photos, create promotional materials, record podcasts, film videos, compose music and more. The funding would also pay for increased services for older residents.

This is the text of the referendum question:

"Shall the limiting rate under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law for the White Oak Library District, Will County, Illinois, be increased by an additional amount equal to 0.0296% above the limiting rate for levy year 2017 and be equal to 0.215% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property therein for levy year 2018?”

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