City plans survey to gauge support for tax hike for library, police facilities

CAMPBELL >> Will voters support a tax hike to pay for renovations to the library, police station and City Hall? A new survey launching later this month aims to answer that, Mayor Paul Resnikoff said in an email.

The renovations are expected to cost around $40 million.

The city has looked at a variety of ways to fund the improvements, but Campbell City Council members have said they’d prefer placing a parcel tax hike on the November ballot. A parcel tax would apply to both residential and commercial properties and requires twothirds voter approval.

City hall, the police building and the library were built in the 1970s. The library, which opened in 1975, is the oldest building in the Santa Clara County library system and attracts about 1,000 visitors daily.

“The library building is at the end of its life,” Campbell Community Librarian Peggy Tomasso said. “The plumbing, elevator and electrical all need upgrading. They want to put in a new audio-visual system, but we’re not sure we can install it because the electrical is at capacity.”

The shelves are “packed to the gills,” Tomasso said, and the children’s area is too small.

“We have a dedicated story area for 40 or 50, but sometimes we get as many as 200 parents and children,” Tomasso said.

A new children’s area would ideally be located adjacent to the children’s book and computer section, which is upstairs.

“Currently, young children, including toddlers and preschoolers, must navigate up and down the stairs to attend programs,” Tomasso said. “This disrupts adult patrons downstairs, creating tension.”

The library is also missing a student study area, a place for parents to park strollers and the ADA ramp entrance is too steep for all but electric wheelchair users.

“We know there are people who can’t get up that ramp,” Tomasso said.

The library also houses Campbell’s emergency operations center. Last Friday, the emergency center was filled with books ready to be sold by the Friends of the Library. If an emergency had occurred, the book-filled tables could be easily moved since they’re on wheels, Tomasso pointed out.

But the police department’s situation points to another reason for the proposed upgrades; the department has outgrown its portion of city hall and has been using a portable building for 10 years. So, if a new police building is constructed the emergency center would move there.

Mayor Resnikoff explained that the upcoming survey will determine if any tax increase proposal goes on the November ballot.

“Once we have that feedback the council will have further discussion in public session to decide a course of action,” Resnickoff said in an email. “At this point I really don’t know the likelihood of moving forward, but I’m optimistic that we will do so because we have serious facilities and service issues that we do need to address.”

In 2016, Campbell surveyed 501 residents about levying a $428 parcel tax for library, police and city hall improvements, and found nearly 55 percent vote yes. The no votes totaled more than 37 percent while just under 8 percent were undecided.