Library Board of Trustees Approve 2012 Tax Rate, Discuss Due Date Reminders

approved a 0.89 cent property tax increase at the Monday night board meeting.

Library District Coordinator of Finance and Support Services Richard Shultz said the tax rate will be 21.54 cents per $100 assessed valuation.

Owners of a home assessed at $150,000 will pay $61.39 to the library district in 2012 --- $2.54 more than in 2011.

Shultz said he does not believe the increase will have much of an affect on residents.

“You’re talking a very minimal amount,” Shultz said.

The voter-approved levy cap on the library tax rate is $0.26 per $100 of assessed valuation. Shultz said the library district’s rate has stayed below this cap for several years.

Shultz said, if the board tried to decrease the tax rate next year, then the board would not have been able increase the rate the following year without a public vote.

Trustees Consider Sending Due Date Reminders Via E-mail

Director Jim Brown suggested the library district start sending due date reminders to library users.

Two days before a library book is due, an e-mail reminder would be sent out to the library user to notify them before they incur a fine.

Brown said the library district will probably see a dip in fine revenue in the short-term as a result. Despite this, Brown said the reminders would be a valuable service to residents.

“It’s a reasonably fair trade-off to provide quality customer service,” Brown said.

Brown said, when residents sign up for these reminders, the library can then start sending other such notices to residents by e-mail instead of traditional mail. He said he believes saving paper may help balance out some of the loss in fine revenue.