Advanced SearchThe proposed Santa Cruz County Library District would operate on a new property tax of approximately 14 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, which would in turn free up money from the general fund budgets of Santa Cruz County and the City of Nogales.
 Several members of the board of the Nogales Rochlin-Santa Cruz County Public Library heard a presentation on the proposed new countywide library district. From left, standing, are Lara Hull, Library Director Suzanne Haddock, Ed Delci and Tom McAlpin. Seated are Janice Johnson, left, and Marian Stoddard. Not pictured are Martha Lerma and Jane Dolan. Photo / Kathleen Vandervoet |
Lucero said he has proposed to the county board of supervisors that they create a library district, allowed under state law, that would collect property tax to pay for the library costs. The law allows that action without a vote by the citizens.
If approved, the new district would become effective July 1 when the new fiscal year begins. Lucero said he anticipates recommending that the supervisors vote to approve the district in early May.
Every taxpayer in the City of Nogales, the Town of Patagonia and the unincorporated communities of Rio Rico, Tubac, Amado, Tumacacori, Sonoita and Elgin would be assessed the tax.
Lucero said the county would choose the City of Nogales “to be the vendor. We’d cover 100 percent of their costs.” He said “nothing will change” at the city or county level. The employees would remain City of Nogales employees and the main Nogales library and the branch libraries in Rio Rico, Tubac and Sonoita would continue to operate as they do now.
The operating budget for the library this year is $527,548, Kissinger said.
Board member Janice Johnson asked what the new tax would be and Lucero replied that it’s too early to be pinned down, but it might be approximately 14 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
Kissinger said he supports the plan. It will mean the City of Nogales will no longer have to pay its portion of the library’s annual costs from the general fund. Rather, the entire cost will be paid to the city by the county, freeing up general fund money for other services.
For many years, the city and county used an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) in which the City of Nogales operated the library system and paid 60 percent of the costs and the county paid its share of 40 percent of the costs to the city. The board of supervisors voted in December to end that IGA as of June 30, 2010.
The county is facing extreme budget cutbacks, Lucero said, which led him to consider proposing this option. He said the estimated deficit for the upcoming year is $2.1 million and that reductions in services have already been implemented.
Security
Johnson asked if the tax collected would be kept secure and used only for library expenses, or if it might be mixed with other spending. Lucero assured her it would only go to the library. “We’re not like the state that can sweep money from other accounts,” he said.
Kissinger said city staff is working on writing a new IGA for the proposed library district. The agreement will come before the Nogales City Council shortly after the board of supervisors officially creates the library district. Kissinger said he advocates a 10-year agreement rather than one that has to be renewed yearly.
Lucero said the Town of Patagonia, which operates its own public library, has been invited to join in the new library district. He said, “Patagonia has yet to take a position,” but he hasn’t received a positive response. He would be amenable to the town’s inclusion in the future. Regardless, Patagonia residents would still be required to pay the new county library tax.
Library board chairman Tom McAlpin thanked Lucero and Kissinger for attending the session. He said he and other board members had been asked a lot of questions in the past few months which they couldn’t answer.
“You’ve put our minds at ease,” McAlpin said.
(Reach the writer at kathleenvan@msn.com.)
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