SANTA PAULA : Tax May Be Sought to Fund Library

Commissioners for the financially strapped Blanchard Community Library in Santa Paula say a special tax may be needed to keep the library’s doors open year-round and to expand its hours of operation.

On Monday, commissioners will decide whether to recommend placing a measure on the ballot next year calling for a special assessment tax to bolster the library’s budget. Trustees for the Santa Paula Union High School Public Library District would then have the final say on whether to place the tax measure on the ballot.

A vote on a special tax assessment is being considered because of the loss of $50,000 in state and local funding, Commissioner Gene Marzec said. To compensate for the cuts, the commission approved spending the library’s reserve fund this year, which means that the library may be forced to close for nearly six months next year beginning July 1.

“We have scraped all over the place and can’t cut any more,” Marzec said. “We have to go to the voters; otherwise, we’ll go down the tubes.”

Two years ago, Santa Paula voters rejected a measure that would have imposed a temporary $5 tax on each parcel of land in the library district, enough to raise at least $35,000. The measure lost when 57.4% of the voters backed it, short of the two-thirds majority required to pass tax measures.

In the wake of the loss two years ago, the commissioners reduced the library operation to 18 hours a week. The library is open only three days weekly; closing Friday through Monday.

This time, Marzec said, commissioners may ask voters to approve a tax assessment of between $15 and $25 a parcel, enough to add $70,000 to $175,000 to the budget.

If voters approve the measure, Marzec said he will support increasing the library’s hours of operation to 40 per week.

The library commission will meet at 3:30 p.m. in the Hardison Room at the Blanchard Community Library, 119 N. 8th St.