A bill that was introduced by a state lawmaker regarding public libraries came after issues that some city officials voiced.
District 24 Senator Jesse Green (R-Boone) tells Raccoon Valley Radio he introduced Senate Study Bill 3131 after conversations he had with city administrators and city council members from Senate District 24. He heard complaints from city officials following property tax reform about the state addressing unfunded mandates, including public libraries. Green says current law states that cities “shall” levy a tax for libraries, with the minimum being $0.06. He points out every county in the state does more than that, with the average for counties at $0.15. So Green says his bill would change the law to “may” levy a tax instead of “shall” to give cities more flexibility.
Green notes the other part of his legislation is about the composition and governance of library boards. He says there have been issues where some city councils question the decision to hire a library director that isn’t a good fit, so his bill would allow city councils to have the final decision on hiring library directors.
“There are some local government officials that say maybe this is one reason we rank in the bottom ten when it comes to property taxes, that we have too many local services. So as time goes on in the internet-age maybe there’s portions in this state that don’t need a library. But there again, all of this is about local control, allowing local officials to have the authority to make these decisions for themselves.”
The opposition to this bill say it would reduce the ability for libraries to survive.
House District 47 Representative Carter Nordman has a companion bill in the House, House Study Bill 678. Click the links below to see both of the bills.