University City Library May Ask Voters For Property Tax Hike

UNIVERSITY CITY, MO — The University City Public Library is asking for help from residents as it plans for the future. In a new survey sent to 2,000 random U. City residents, the library asks patrons to rate its facility, what services they value most, and how they would feel about a property tax hike to support those services.

"What if there were a proposal on the ballot sometime within the next year to increase the property tax levy supporting the University City Public Library from 28 cents for each $100 assessed value to 40 cents for each $100 assessed value," the survey says, asking residents if they would vote for such a tax increase if the election were held today.

The survey gives several reasons for the proposed tax increase and asks residents to rank how convincing they are, from "Very" to "Not At All."

"University City needs a strong public library so that all of its residents have access to technology for things like doing homework, completing online job applications, and connecting to the online world," is one such justification.

Others include:

• "The University City Public Library plays a crucial role in helping children learn."
• "University City needs a local public library so that children develop the lifelong habit of and love for reading."
• "It is more important than ever to support gathering places like the local public library."
• "In today's knowledge economy, libraries are essential for enabling lifelong learning."
• "Because the Library is separate from the University City municipal government, the funds from the tax increase could only be spent to improve the University City Public Library."
• "The University City Public Library building is almost 50 years old, making it one of the oldest libraries in St. Louis County. It needs to be restored and modernized so that it is up-to-date."

Patrick Wall, the library's director, told Patch the board is just gathering data at this point, but is beginning to explore ways to continue to provide existing services while also improving the library as a whole.

"The board would like to gauge the community's attitude concerning a ballot issue before moving forward," he said. "If the board does decide to ask the voters for further support, it would most likely be sometime in 2019."

If the tax hike passes, the library says it may be able to upgrade the building, including with better restrooms and lighting, improve its e-book and audio book collections, expand outreach to undeserved areas and give its staff a pay raise, among other things.

"We feel that increased support for the library is necessary at this time because with a 50-year-old building — the University City Public Library was built in 1969 — we are one or two unexpected major building repairs away from having to cut services," Wall said. "It is a lovely building and we hope to be here forever, but we need to renovate, repair, and upgrade the building in a way that we cannot currently afford."

Needed renovations include the library's heating and air conditioning system, electrical system and phone system, Wall said, as well as the building's burglar alarm, fire suppression system, and restrooms.

If cuts are necessary, the survey asks what library services residents would be willing to part with. Proposed belt-tightening measures include reducing evening and weekend hours, cutting staff and reducing children's programs.

"We have trimmed our staffing down as far as we can without cutting services," Wall said. "The library last went to the voters in 1990. Since that time services in libraries have expanded to include computers, databases, WiFi, e-books and downloadable audiobooks, and other formats, all of which increase our costs."

Wall said when the library buys a book, it also usually purchases the e-book and audiobook versions as well, and that many publishers have set pricing for electronic copies much higher for libraries than individuals.

"For example," he explained, "while an individual can purchase the new Bill Clinton and James Patterson book, The President Is Missing, from Amazon for $17.99, and the Kindle version for $14.99, the cost to a library for the ebook is $85."

While the U. City Library tries to reduce expenses by sharing costs with other municipal libraries, the costs associated with new media continue to rise, Wall said. And, while the library has been "relentless at applying for and receiving grants," to cover the increased costs, those grants only go so far.

"We believe that the citizens of University City need and deserve a better library and better library services than we can currently provide," Wall said.

The University City library tax is currently about 25 percent higher than the county's library tax, but it's still a pretty small amount compared to the overall tax burden for U. City. The city's library tax comes in just under 3 percent of residents' total personal property tax burden. If the proposed tax hike were to pass, it would rise to just over 4 percent.

The survey is being administered by researchers at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.

Photo by J. Ryne Danielson/Patch