Moorpark Tables Plan for Builders to Pay Library Fee

A proposal to charge developers in order to raise funds for library materials was tabled by a 2-2 vote of the City Council on Wednesday.

Councilman John Wosniak and Mayor Pat Hunter voted for the measure, but it died when council members Bernardo Perez and Debbie Teasley voted it down, saying it needed more study. Officials said it could be brought back at another time, but there was no indication of that Wednesday.

“I don’t think anyone questions we have a deficiency and that the deficiency will continue to grow unless we address it,” Perez said regarding the shortage of library materials. “Some effort in this area is warranted, but I’m still struggling with the equity issue.”

The ordinance would have required developers to pay $460 for every single-family dwelling they build, $298 for duplexes, condominiums and individual apartment units, and $306 for every space in a mobile home park.

The rationale behind the fee is that developers should pay for the increased demand for library materials caused by residents that the new homes attract. By the year 2010, the city’s 28,000 population is expected to increase by 50%.

City officials say they are not trying to make up for the lack of books, but are concerned that the 7,700-square-foot county-run library doesn’t fall even further behind as the population increases.

Hunter spearheaded the efforts to create the library ordinance, arguing that builders should pay for the impacts that their developments have on the libraries, just as they do for other services such as roads or sewers.

Hunter and Wosniak said they believed that something needed to be done immediately.

“You continue to fall further and further behind the longer you wait,” Hunter said. “I think we’re far too close now to stop and change gears.”

While the fee may not be the most costly they face, developers said that sticking them with the library fee was unfair and that Moorpark should use general funds to pay for library materials, as has been done in the past.

Ultimately, home buyers would end up footing the cost of the library fees in the form of higher prices for homes, said Dee Zinke, a representative of the Building Industry Assn.

“Why not charge everyone, instead of just the new homeowners? Why not do it in a method that’s less painful. It’s the easiest way for the city to assess the fee to a public that isn’t here on their behalf,” she said.

Yet the idea has met with praise from librarians, who say they struggle to keep the libraries current and worry about future growth. With a budget of just $4,000 for new materials this fiscal year, they said it is difficult to purchase all that is needed.

There are plenty of reference materials, computer software and children’s materials that Librarian Laurie Dunning said she has not been able to purchase.

“It’s real frustrating,” said Dunning, a 13-year veteran. Ultimately though, she said that a library fee from developers would only be a partial solution and that the city’s library would still need additional resources.

“It’s not a final solution,” Dunning said. “It’s just a way of helping us get by. It probably would not be stable enough from year to year.”