If voters in East Baton Rouge Parish reject an 11.1-mill property tax to support the library system next month, the tax will not automatically revert back to the 10.78-mill rate at which it is currently set. Rather, the library system will have only enough money to keep its doors open for about six months and will have to scramble to try to pass the tax a second time before it goes broke.
“If it fails, it fails; you can’t go back,” says Library Director Spencer Watts, who addressed the Press Club of Baton Rouge this afternoon. “You can’t go back. You have to go through the whole process again, and it would be a mess.”
Library board officials have characterized the 10-year dedicated tax as a renewal because voters approved an 11.1-mill rate in 1995 and again in 2005. However, in recent years, the millage was lowered to 10.78 mills to reflect higher property values on the tax rolls.
Early this year, Metro Council members indicated they would force the library to seek the renewal at the 10.78-mill rate, if not less. However, they changed their mind after hearing from constituents who support the library system. The election is Oct. 24.
Watts says many voters don’t understand that the millage is an all-or-nothing proposition, and the system will be in real jeopardy if voters don’t renew it. His speech today to the Press Club was the beginning of a six-week campaign that he and other supporters of the library system are undertaking to try to educate the public about the nature of the millage and the need for it.
“We don’t borrow money, we set money aside,” he says. “So often we have large amounts of money in reserve, but it is being saved and dedicated.”
Watts says about 95% of the money generated by the dedicated millage will fund library operations, while 5% while go to capital projects. If the millage is approved it will generate an estimated $44 million next year.
The library system has compiled a detailed FAQ page on the dedicated property tax.
—Stephanie Riegel
