Portage County District Library (PCDL) will be appearing on the November 3, 2020 ballot as Issue #31. The Library is asking for a 1-Mill, 10-year property tax levy to supplement its operating budget. At present, PCDL is one of the only systems in the area that relies solely on state funding. Because it does not currently receive any money from local property taxes, PCDL’s funding levels are largely decided in Columbus, rather than here in Portage County.
The Library system currently operates with an annual budget similar to Kent Free Library or Reed Memorial Library in Ravenna. However, instead of one location, we operate five branches, outreach services, and cover a population with roughly five times as many people as those libraries. When considering the budget and service population, PCDL is the third-worst-funded library in the state of Ohio, ranking 249 out of 251.
Because PCDL does not receive any local revenue, its funding levels fluctuate from month to month depending on the money the state takes in from sales and income tax. When those amounts decrease, as they have this year, it has a direct impact on PCDL’s budget. Similarly, when the state decides to cut funding to libraries, as they did in 2009, PCDL has nothing else to fall back on. This has led to reductions in hours and the closing of library branches. Having never fully recovered from the 2009 cuts, PCDL is out of other options. PCDL’s goal is stable and sustainable funding and wants to make sure that it can follow through on its commitments to public service and outreach to the communities it serves.
Because of this, PCDL believes that 10 years will give the Library the necessary stability to make long-lasting changes to its available services. It is important to note that with a 10-year levy, the amount you pay in year 1 will be the amount you pay in year 10, as the rate will stay the same even as property values increase. Residents of PCDL’s service district currently pay $0 in property taxes to support the public library. Therefore, any funding increase will result in an increase in taxes. The annual increase will be $35 for a home valued at $100,000.
Taking community input into account, PCDL’s Board of Trustees has identified six priorities in our strategic plan which are: Restoration of hours at all branches; the purchase of a bookmobile or similar mobile service location; providing weekly mobile service to each school district that does not have a branch location; doubling the Library’s current outreach to homebound patrons and assisted living facilities; updating and expanding all Library Express service locations to include one in each city or township served by PCDL; and working with local communities in identifying a location for the establishment of a new branch library.
PCDL branch locations include Aurora Memorial, Garrettsville, Pierce Streetsboro, Randolph, and Windham. There is also an Outreach Services department which provides library service to homebound patrons, Library Express, the Library Box at the NEW Center on the NEO-MED campus in Rootstown, and normally the nursing homes and assisted-living facilities (service currently suspended due to COVID-19). Learn more about PCDL programs and services at www.portagelibrary.org. Don’t have a library card? Visit PCDL’s website and click on “Get a Library Card” from the How Do I? menu. September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month, so sign up for yours today.
