Voters will also see a 0.8-mill, five-year renewal levy for Greene County Public Health on their ballot this fall. The Greene County Commission sent both requests to the County Auditor for certification on Thursday.
The one-mill levy is expected to cost taxpayers $3 for every $100,000 of home value, said Executive Director Karl Colón of the Green County Public Library. Funds generated by the one-mill library levy will go toward the library’s existing programs and functions, including programming for children, the elderly and families.
“When we’re looking at a public library, we’re looking at an engine for success for the community,” Colón said. “Everything from making sure that our seniors stay connected — we deliver tens of thousands of items to seniors at home, in care facilities...and of course, continuing our super strong services for our kids, building their success.”
The major factors driving the tax ask are potential state cutbacks of library funding and inflation, Colón said. The last time the library placed a levy for operating funds on the ballot was 2014.
“We know how to stretch a dollar,” he said. “We’re asking for the first time in 11 years. And we’re doing that because we’ve now gotten to the point, just to be honest, where ... if we want to keep providing the same services that the community so values from us, we just need a little more help.”
The library recently completed a “down-to-the-studs” renovation of its Xenia Community Library, the last of five library locations that have received renovations over the last decade. All of those renovations were undertaken with money from cash reserves, Colón added.
The tax ask comes at a time when a proposed ballot initiative to eliminate property taxes is gaining traction in Ohio. A constitutional amendment gathering signatures to eliminate the collection of property taxes has been circulating in the Miami Valley, with the aim to place the issue before voters in November.
“Even though we know times are hard, we hope they’ll understand why the library is asking, and then it’s up to the voters to decide,” Colón said.
Commissioners acknowledged the supportive spirit of the community, while also noting it’s a difficult financial time for not just these staples in the community like the library, during discussion of both tax issues Thursday.
“While I think the library does some of the best work with their levy dollars, I fully understand that in today’s environment, it’s difficult to ask voters,” Commissioner Dick Gould said. “The voters have the right to vote yea or nay.”
About the Author
