ARAPAHOE COUNTY —It has been a dozen years since the Arapahoe Library District last asked its patrons for a tax boost.
Though the basics of checking out a paperback haven’t changed in that time, much else has. The district is now low on the reserve funds it used to bolster itself since 2003 but is eager to maintain service levels. So the decision was made to return to the ballot Nov. 3 in the hope voters will approve a nearly $6 million tax hike.
“The cost of doing business has gone up,” district executive director Nicolle Davies said when discussing the decision to go back to voters. “In addition, we’ve expanded services in 12 years. The hope is this increase will take us out another 10 to 12 years.”
Unlike municipal libraries funded through city or town governments, the Arapahoe Library District is funded through a separate mill levy on property in its service area. The district has eight branches in an area that stretches from Sheridan in the west to Byers in the east, serving an estimated 250,000 patrons.
The district’s board of directors to ask voters to increase the mill levy rate by 1.2 mills each year, increasing annual tax revenues by $5,997,279. That translates to $2.39 in additional taxes each month on a home worth $300,000, according to a announcing the vote. The district’s came in at $25,819,385, according to officials, while total tax revenue is expected to be $20,366,469. The total increase being requested represents a roughly 23 percent of the 2015 budget.
“We have been pulling from reserve for the last few years,” said Davies, an 11-year district employee. “This would help us offset that and operate in the black every year. It would really be to provide services at the level we have the last few years and take care of the capital we already have.”
One popular service the district has added in recent years is electronic content, including e-books and e-audiobooks available for download onto computers, tablets or smartphones. According to Davies, the district spent nearly $975,000 on e-content last year, and because the items are automatically deleted from users’ devices once their due date passes, there has been a corresponding decline in late fees and fines collected by the district.
“Our patrons love e-content. They want it and we want to provide it, but it costs us a lot more to buy it” than our traditional book collection, she said.
District board president Katie Schroeder said in her view, the tax increase is essential for several reasons, including supporting services for two of the district’s most important patron demographics: children and seniors.
She noted e-content is popular among home-bound seniors, and the added tax money would help support the district’s book mobile that makes visits to senior care facilities.
“The mill levy increase will continue to allow us to provide those updated materials and literary programs for kids, especially with summer reading times,” she added. “It will allow us to continue to have adequate number of librarians in our buildings so you always get a real person on the phone, and continue to provide educational opportunities for free that our community doesn’t necessarily get in other areas.”
There was plenty of support for the tax increase among visitors at the district’s Eloise May Library at 1471 S. Parker Road.
“I’ve always been a fan of libraries, so if they need something to get them through and keep up this library and their collection, I’m OK with it,” Emma Kell said as she checked out a paperback copy of “The Wizard of Oz.”
Eric Nelson said he frequently uses the May Library’s scanners and printers for work purposes and sees value in providing for libraries.
He added: “It they didn’t have the taxes then we wouldn’t have the library, so I’m all for it.”
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953, jrubino@denverpost.com or twitter.com/RubinoJC
