CANTON, Ohio — Off-year primary elections may tend to be of little interest to a lot of people, but in Stark County, the future of the Stark Library District is very much on the line.
In 2012, voters approved a 1.7 mill property tax levy to fund the library district through 2019. The money initially accounted for about half of their budget with the other half coming from the State of Ohio's Public Library Fund, but library leaders say that fund has decreased by 17% over the last decade making the need for voters to renew the levy that much more crucial.
"You know if your household budget was cut in half, you can imagine there are some consequences, there are some tough decisions that have to be made," said Stark Library District CEO & Executive Director Mary Ellen Icaza.
The district is seeking a renewal of the 1.7 mill levy with an additional 0.3 mills to offset the cost of the state cuts as well as inflation. For a home valued at $100,000 the district estimates it would mean an additional $26.50 in taxes a year.
In many communities renewals, even with slight increases, are approved by voters, but this will be the districts second attempt after seeing a November ballot measure defeated 52.4 to 47.6% at the polls.
"I was disappointed that we did not pass in November, but I remain very hopeful this time around," Icaza said. "We feel that we have done a much better job of getting our message out to the public."
This measure is asking for 0.2 mills less than the last effort in the hopes of making it more tolerable for voters.
If voters reject the latest effort, the result would be cuts to services, programs and hours at a time, Icaza said, more and more people in the community are relying on them.
"The library today is really the heart of the community, and I like to think of it as the community living room," Icaza said. "A strong community has strong libraries."
