AURORA — A property-tax hike that would stave off closing four of the seven libraries in the city was failing Tuesday night.
With a majority of the votes counted, ballot measure 4A was going down 54 percent to 46 percent.
The question asked voters to create a general-improvement district for libraries. The property-tax hike would have generated $12.5 million annually and cost the owner of a home valued at $200,000 an extra $5.69 a month.
“Yes!” said Greg Golyansky of Citizens for Responsible Aurora Government, when he learned of the results. “This is not a referendum on libraries. The citizens of Aurora don’t want to be poor simply because the City Council is ignorant in terms of economics.”
Supporters of Aurora libraries gathered at the Central Library, where hope turned into the stark realization that more than half of the city’s libraries will close at the end of the year.
Save Aurora Libraries chairwoman Karen Middleton said she was disappointed but said it was important to put this issue before voters.
“I knew it would be a tough election year,” said Middleton, a state representative from Aurora. “We gave it everything we had, and voters had a choice.”
Also, two of four incumbents seeking re-election were on their way to defeat late Tuesday. Councilman Larry Beer and Councilwoman Deborah Wallace were trailing, while incumbent Bob FitzGerald looked headed toward another term. Councilman Steve Hogan was term-limited.
The library issue was sticky for city officials, who did not want to shutter any libraries but felt they had no choice.
The City Council already has approved the 2010 city budget, which calls for the closure of the Mission Viejo, Iliff Square, Hoffman Heights and Chambers Plaza libraries. The Central, Martin Luther King Jr. and Tallyn’s Reach libraries will remain open.
About 40 library employees also will be laid off.
Opponents led by Golyansky, who is vice chairman of the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, said the tax hike would almost double the current budget for libraries.
Aside from keeping the libraries slated for closure open, the extra tax money would allow 154 library hours per week to be restored systemwide. Databases would be added and more books purchased, in addition to more offerings of English-language and computer classes.
The hours Aurora libraries are open have declined significantly over the past several years. This year all libraries were forced to close an additional day a week, and one library shut down for several days before it won a reprieve through the end of the year, thanks to its landlord.
The library issue has been a divisive one. But this year, with the down economy, the council felt as if it had nowhere else to cut to balance the budget.
Councilman Steve Hogan has said that too many programs in the city depend on sales-tax revenue. He said voters should have the option of supporting libraries with property-tax revenue, which would free up revenue to use elsewhere.
“Part of the reason why Aurora and other city governments in the state suffer so much in down times is because of their reliance on sales tax,” Hogan said. “Putting libraries on a property-tax basis might be a good thing.”
In the Aurora City Council races, Melissa Miller was ahead by 5 percentage points over the incumbent Wallace. Kim Harrell and Francis Peter Maks Jr. also trailed.
In Ward 2, incumbent Renie Peterson had a comfortable lead over challenger Randy Reamy, while incumbent Beer trailed challenger Marsha Berzins by 6 percentage points.
Two at-large spots were up for grabs, with incumbent FitzGerald holding on to a 4 percentage-point lead and Bob LeGare leading Barbara Cleland by 12 votes for the second spot.
There were several other measures on the ballot. Voters approved extending several council positions to a third four-year term to align with the other council positions.
The Carriage Place neighborhood rejected a general-improvement district to build a masonry fence around it, and Pier Point agreed to a general-improvement district to upgrade its sewer system.
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
