Supervisors Ponder Seeking Tax to Finance County Libraries

Faced with a projected annual deficit of at least $1.6 million over the next decade in the county library system, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to study imposition of a special tax to upgrade and maintain libraries.

The supervisors’ unanimous vote on the possibility of asking voters to approve a special library tax followed the recommendations of a county-appointed task force that conducted an 11-month study of the county libraries’ financing requirements and other needs.

Although the supervisors emphasized that their vote represented only a decision to study the special tax, other county officials noted that budget constraints already imposed on a number of vital county services may leave the board with few other options for meeting the 33-library system’s long-term financing needs.

For the current fiscal year, the county library system has an $8.7-million budget, which pays for a 205-member staff and the operation of 33 branch libraries, a government reference library, two bookmobiles and a library administrative headquarters. The system serves nearly 800,000 residents, 300,000 of whom hold county library cards.

The libraries are financed primarily by a 1.5% share of the county’s 1% property tax in areas served by the county system, which includes the unincorporated region and 11 small cities. Seven other cities--San Diego, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Escondido, Coronado, Chula Vista and National City--have their own library systems.

Special Fund

County libraries also receive part of another special fund designed to help compensate for the discontinuation of the use of general revenues for libraries--and to make up the gap between property tax revenues and actual operating costs. However, the libraries’ share of those dollars, which totaled $1 million last year, is expected to drop dramatically to $621,414 this year and to $393,400 in 1990.

As a result, county administrators project that, over the next 10 years, the county library system will face a shortfall of $15.9 million to $28.6 million. The $15.9-million deficit stems only from existing operating expenses and already planned library expansions in El Cajon, San Marcos and Vista, but does not include funds for a recently approved new library in Rancho San Diego. The $28.6-million projection covers the cost of the Rancho San Diego facility as well as 10 other planned branch library expansions.

In its 31-page report to the supervisors, the task force noted that the county library system now ranks near the bottom among all local libraries and comparable county systems elsewhere in the state in major service categories such as expenditures, books and space per capita.

To meet proposed minimum standards, one of the major goals being to double the system’s books to 1.6 million, per-capita spending will have to be increased from the current $9.12 to $16.17 annually, the task force reported. In contrast, Carlsbad spends $38 per capita on libraries, Coronado spends $30.85 and the city of San Diego $11.74.

Without more funds, the task force warned, reductions in county library operations, staff layoffs and the closure of some branches might be necessary.

Special Tax Proposed

The best way to raise the proposed $7.05-per-person increase needed to prevent those cutbacks, the task force said, is by a special tax for library services in areas that use the county system. If adopted, the special tax would be added to property assessments in those areas.

A major drawback to that proposal, however, is that the special tax would require a two-thirds approval by voters, a margin that some supervisors and even several library advocates expressed doubts about attaining, despite the relatively little money involved.

“Any campaign is fraught with potential problems,” County Librarian Catherine Lucas conceded. However, noting that the needed $7 increase is less than half the cost of most new books, she added: “I would hope that people would see this is a very modest proposal and would be willing to go along with it.”

Despite agreeing to study the feasibility of a special tax, several supervisors expressed interest in other funding options outlined in the task force’s report.

Supervisor Brian Bilbray, for example, argued that the funding difficulties could be reduced by more aggressively pressing the cities that use county libraries to help pay for the system. That suggestion is in line with a task-force recommendation urging that cities or communities using the library system be asked to finance construction of new libraries or expansions of existing ones, with the county paying for operating costs.

“We have to be very frank with the cities,” Bilbray said. “They’re receiving services, and that should be reflected in their participation.”

Besides studying the special tax and ways of deriving income from cities within the county library system, the supervisors also instructed county staffers to explore the possibility of financing library needs through so-called “County Service Areas” (CSA).

A CSA covers a specific geographic region in which residents are assessed an extra fee to cover certain services--usually without needing to first gain public approval in an election. Existing state law, however, does not permit CSAs to be used to pay for libraries, although a proposal authorizing such plans is now before the state Legislature.

Under Tuesday’s action, Chief Administrative Officer Norman Hickey is scheduled to report back to the supervisors on the funding possibilities and related issues within six months.