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February 24, 2009

Library plans are put on hold

Tuesday, February 24, 2009
By Jessica Beym jbeym@sjnewsco.com
WASHINGTON TWP. Plans to buy a new library building here are in limbo, after a bill was introduced earlier this month in the state Legislature that would cut the minimum required funding for municipal libraries in half.

Mayor Matthew Lyons said that reducing the state-mandated funding would not only make buying the Education and Information Resource Center building on Delsea Drive impossible but would also affect current operations at the existing Margaret E. Heggan Free Public Library.

For about the last 100 years, municipalities have been required to tax their residents one third of a mill on every $1 of assessed valuation, or about $33.33 for a property assessed at $100,000, for library funds.

The bill, A-3753 introduced by Assemblyman Vincent Prieto of Bergen County calls for cutting that minimum in half, to one-sixth of a mill. However, towns could still raise more than that to support their libraries, as is allowed in the existing law.

Approximately 63 percent of the state's municipalities fund their libraries at more than the current state minimum, according to the New Jersey State Library.

But Washington Township isn't one of them.

The Heggan Library, which is only 10,000 square feet for a population of more than 50,000, is funded at the exact state minimum.

In 2008, the township taxed its residents $1.7 million for library services. That number is expected to increase to $1.77 million in 2009, based on property values in the town, said Business Administrator Mary Breslin.

After years of advocacy and many months of planning, last year the township took a step toward a new, larger building. Former Mayor Paul Moriarty signed a contract in December with the EIRC owners to purchase the 20,000-square-foot building. Prior to that, a $4.6 million bond ordinance was introduced by the council to pay for the purchase and renovations.

The plan was to pay down the debt of buying and renovating the building by using the library's surplus fund along with the additional money set aside each year for library services.

Last year, it seemed that the council would approve the purchase only if it came with no additional taxpayer expense.

But the bond ordinance was never finalized.

Prior to being sworn into the mayor's office, Lyons had said that he wanted to hold off on the bond so the township could look into expanding the dollar amount for other projects an effort to save some money by borrowing all the funds at once.

At the time, there seemed to be no hurry as long the bond ordinance was settled by the deadline in the library contract, which is sometime in March.

Lyons wouldn't give a specific date.

In light of the bill, he said, the township is re-evaluating its contract with owners of the EIRC building.

"I am concerned," said Lyons. "The library board of trustees' president has made it clear to me that [the legislation] would make it impossible to meet the debt service on the new library. I have a fiduciary duty to the township and library board to monitor that before I dig a hole that we can't get out of."

Victoria Rosch, deputy director of the library development bureau at the New Jersey State Library, stressed that even if the bill passes and the minimum funding is lowered, it's still just that a minimum.

Several towns in Gloucester County including Pitman, Westville, Woodbury and the townships of Franklin, Monroe and West Deptford all fund their libraries above the current state requirement, Rosch said.

She pointed out that, so far, the bill only has one sponsor the assemblyman who introduced it.

Nobody else has signed onto this bill, which is unusual," she said.

Spokesmen for both the New Jersey State Library and the New Jersey Library Association (NJLA) said the bill seems to be a reaction to the economy and to hard budget times for municipalities. Both organizations pointed to another bill that may a better solution one in the state Assembly that would allow library funding to be exempt from the cap on tax hikes.

Pat Tumulty, executive director of the NJLA, said that more than 120 library boards, including Washington Township's, and about 13 municipalities have passed resolutions opposing the reduced funding bill.

"We know there's a lot of opposition," Tumulty said, adding that the NJLA also opposes it.

If the bill passed and municipalities were to reduce the tax collection and library allocation to one-sixth of a mill per $1, it could have a detrimental impact on library services, said Rosch at the state library.

She said the current minimum funding amount is evidence that state officials value libraries and recognize that they need funding.

"They realize how important libraries are in these difficult financial times," she said. "People come in to use the computer, ask for job search help ... When things are so bad is when libraries are needed more than ever. At half the funding for the library, many libraries would just close and would never open again."

Mayor Lyons said if the bill were approved, there would be pressure to reduce the rate in Washington Township, which is already predicting a double digit tax increase.

"I'm concerned in this time of financial crisis that Trenton could use this as a way to claim that they're providing relief to local towns," Lyons said.

He said the township still has a good relationship with the EIRC owners and plans to "explore all options."

"I'm going to proceed with all caution to try to get the library issues resolved and get a new library for the residents of Washington Township," Lyons said.

The township council will meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the municipal building, 523 Egg Harbor Road.

Posted by tumulty at February 24, 2009 3:34 PM

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