Council to Discuss Plan for Libraries

The City Council on Monday will discuss participating in a joint-powers authority that would give city governments more control over their libraries.

The Simi Valley council will also be asked to consider allowing an advisory vote on a proposed countywide property tax to raise money for the library system and will consider giving its OK to an audit of the county’s Library Services Administration.

In the past, the City Council has been critical of how the county spends money earmarked for library services, Councilman Paul Miller said.

“We support libraries but we have to see all the costs before we can support something like that,” Miller said.

County officials have asked several cities if they would support putting the question of establishing a countywide benefit assessment district for libraries on the November ballot.

The county’s library budget already has been slashed from about $10 million a year to $5.8 million. County officials now say there is no money to support the smaller branches.

Miller said he was ready to support a proposed county-sponsored management audit of the Library Services Administration, which is meant to show how the agency allocates money.

But he wanted to wait on the audit before committing to the joint-powers plan.