PENINSULA LIBRARY
I would like to remind everyone that there is a levy on the ballot May 4 that will directly impact the Peninsula Library & Historical Society. Many years ago, our Board of Trustees had the foresight to reach an agreement with the Akron-Summit County Public Library whereby levy money collected in our service area of Boston Heights, Boston Township and Peninsula Village would be returned to the Peninsula Library. This arrangement means that the Peninsula Library receives just under $80,000 per year to supplement the money we receive from the State of Ohio. For 2010, the amount we receive from the ASCPL levy will represent 18.6% of our total anticipated revenue of $427,093. What will be appearing on the May 4 ballot is known as a replacement levy. Unlike a renewal levy, a replacement levy is voted in at the current appraised values of properties, not the values that were in place at the time the last levy was originally approved. This will mean a very slight increase in taxes amounting to $2.55 per $100,000 valuation in property values. The replacement levy would be collected at a total rate of approximately $43 per $100,000 valuation. Even though the passage of this levy would mean that the Peninsula Library would be receiving slightly more revenue from the levy over the next five years, please bear in mind that this will not offset the reductions in state funding that the library has experienced due to the on-going recession. Because of the downturn in the economy and further reductions enacted by the state, we will be receiving $96,873 less in 2010 than we did in 2008. If you have any questions about this levy and its impact on the Peninsula Library, please be sure to contact me at the library.
| Randy Bergdorf, Director |