Following four meetings worth of debate and pushback from community members, the Niles Library District Board of Trustees voted at a recent meeting to increase the district’s property tax levy by $800,000, according to library officials.
Two board members — Carolyn Drblik and Danette Matyas — who have repeatedly expressed opposition to the increase since it was first proposed by their colleagues on the board in early November, maintained their position and voted against the more than 13 percent hike over last year’s levy figure, said Niles library director Susan Lempke. The other five members of the board voted in favor of the increase, she said.
Board president Linda Ryan said during a public hearing on the levy on Nov. 18 that the increase was necessary because such a hike in tax revenue would be impossible next year under state law, and without the increase, the library risks running a deficit in a few years time. She also highlighted the $1.2 million decrease in the levy over the past two years.
Ryan said the $800,000 levy increase would add about $37 to the average resident’s annual tax bill.
Drblik said, in a recent interview, that she could not justify the tax hike given a recent audit presentation that indicated the district’s cash and investments on hand total $8.9 million. The district’s approved budget for fiscal 2016 includes $6.5 million worth of expenditures.
But a significant portion of those funds are either already committed to capital projects or specific expenditures, and some of the funds are earmarked for current expenditures, said Greg Pritz, business manager for the district, in a recent interview.
He said the library has about $5 million in reserve in the general fund, which is below the target of 100 percent of a full year’s worth of expenditures.
“We do need to collect a little bit more than we spend every year or we won’t have money to make repairs or replace technology items,” Lempke said.
During last month’s public hearing, Ryan also noted the district’s plan to embark upon a new strategic planning process. She said the process may call for expanded library services, particularly in the north end of the district, which includes unincorporated areas of Des Plaines and Glenview.
But Drblik said the district has no current plan as to what it intends to do with the additional funds generated by the higher levy.
“How can I take money from taxpayers when I don’t know what I’m going to do with it?” she said. “Something just seems off.”
Lempke said she’s relieved the board ultimately decided to increase the levy, though staff refrained from making any recommendation to elected officials.
If the board had chosen to maintain a level levy or reduce it, Lempke said she would have had to consider cost cutting measures including reducing staffing hours at the library next year.
“Fortunately, now we don’t have to start looking at that,” she said. “I’m very relieved about that. I don’t think the community wants that.”
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Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.