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Library funding down nearly 19 percent so far this year

Alexa Petitjean, 13, looks through a shelf of books at the Middletown Public Library for some casual reading material Tuesday March 16, 2010. Petitjean says she uses the library often for casual reading material and her school studies.

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman Alexa Petitjean, 13, looks through a shelf of books at the Middletown Public Library for some casual reading material Tuesday March 16, 2010. Petitjean says she uses the library often for casual reading material and her school studies.

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By Ryan Gauthier, Staff Writer 9:59 PM Tuesday, March 16, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — Libraries throughout Ohio saw their state revenue drop by a staggering 18.6 percent during the first quarter of 2010 over the same period last year, according to representatives with the Ohio Library Council.

Lynda Murray, director of government and legal services with the OLC, said she is not intimidated by the low collections so far this year. She fully anticipates higher revenues throughout the remainder of 2010, bringing actual numbers closer to the 7 percent drop state officials projected late last year.

“I think we’ll see collections get a little better as the year goes on,” Murray said. “It’s funny because seemingly random things can really throw off tax revenues. A bad snow storm means there hasn’t been sales tax for five days because nobody has been shopping.”

State officials projected a 7 percent drop for 2010 as recently as last December, according to Murray. Those projections have since been altered to between a 7 and 10 percent drop for the year.

That is on top of a 17.8 percent decrease from 2008 to 2009, which included a temporary reduction in state funding from 2.2 percent of the general fund to 1.97 percent.

The Middletown Public Library System is hoping to restore the staff members and hours of operation lost last fall as a result of massive state funding cuts by putting a 0.75-mill property tax levy before voters on May 4 ballot. The millage is projected to generate approximately $3.2 million annually for a five-year period, costing the owner of a $100,000 home an estimated $23 every year.

Library Director Doug Bean said the goal of restoring services remains intact, though nothing is guaranteed should state funding for 2010 decrease by 10 percent or greater.

“We may have to ramp down some more, but that remains to be decided,” Bean said. “We don’t want to have a successful voter issue, then not be able to do what we’ve promised.”

The levy will appear on ballots in Middletown, Monroe, Trenton, Seven Mile, West Chester Twp., Madison Twp., Liberty Twp., Wayne Twp. and Lemon Twp.

The statewide budget crunch in 2009 saw Middletown lay off 21 employees and scale back hours of operation from 72 per week to 47. Bean said the funding issues go back to 2005, when the board decided to furnish and staff a new branch in West Chester Twp.

“For more than a decade we had the goal of building a new library in West Chester,” Bean said. “The cruel irony is the economy tanked just as we finished it.”

John Kohlstrand, a spokesman with the Ohio Department of Taxation, said the public library fund has taken substantial hits recently as a result of overall state tax revenues dropping.

“When tax revenues are going well in Columbus, libraries will get more revenue,” Kohlstrand said. “When revenue is declining at the state level, it’ll shrink for libraries as well.”

With the state’s general fund taking an “unprecedented” 12 percent drop during fiscal year 2009, Kohlstrand said it was only natural libraries would absorb a portion of that.

“I went and looked back through more than 50 years of financial reports and could not find a decline anywhere near what has happened,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or at rgauthier@coxohio.com.

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