Council seeks info on library funding
Souderton offificials weighing an increase in the library tax
Souderton Borough Council will ask Indian Valley Public Library Director Linda Beck to come to one of council’s meetings next month to try to get some more answers and make a decision on whether to agree to increase the library tax to make up for the library funding that was lost when Souderton Area School Board decided to discontinue its library funding.
The school district was providing more than $400,000 per year to the library through a 0.165 mill library tax collected with school district property tax bills. The six towns in the school district — Souderton, Telford, Franconia, Lower Salford, Salford Township and Upper Salford — also collected a similar amount, with 0.165 mills collected with municipal property tax bills. When the school district decided to keep that funding instead of having it go to the library, the library asked the towns to double the municipal library tax rate to 0.33 mills to keep the library funded at roughly the same rate as previously.
Five of the six towns — Souderton, Telford, Franconia, Lower Salford and Salford Township — gave half the requested rate increase, making it 0.2475 mills. Upper Salford did not increase its contribution and Upper Salford is expected to be dropped from the library funding agreement and no longer have the library in Telford as the town’s home library.
The other towns have again been asked to increase their municipal tax rate to 0.33 mills. Each mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed property value, so a 0.33 mill rate is $66 per year on a home assessed at $200,000. In Souderton, increasing the rate from the current 0.2475 mill rate to 0.33 mills would add about $12 per year to the average tax bill, council members said at the June 16 council meeting while discussing the proposed increase.
“Personally, I’m good with it,” council member Richard Halbom said of the proposed increase. “I can explain it to my neighbors.”
Council member Kevin Souder, however, said the borough may have to increase taxes again this year and the proposed library tax increase would add to that.
“We have a lot of expenses coming up and I just don’t want to tack on another $12 tax,” Souder said.
Council members Preston Miller and Jeff Gross each said they’re still undecided on whether to vote for the increase. Miller and Gross also said they would like more information on what it would mean for library operations if the funding were not increased.
“I don’t want to see any of the services or hours cut back,” Miller said, “but they have to have a contingency plan.”
“When the economy went south, we all had to make tough decisions, we all had to cut back,” council President Brian Goshow said.
The council decided to have Beck come to a meeting to answer questions council members have.
This year’s library budget totals $1,058,350, compared to the $1.2 million budget in the years 2009 through 2011, according to a financial summary distributed earlier this year at a library funding meeting. Along with the school district cuts, there have also been cuts in state funding for the libraries, officials have previously said. The library is on Church Avenue in Telford.
Franconia, Salford Township and Lower Salford have gone on record that they are willing to increase the library tax rate to 0.33 mills. Telford and Souderton have not yet reached a decision.