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Politics & Government

Voters Overwhelmingly Retain Township Library Tax

Residents will continue paying tax to ensure access to Allentown Public Library, other libraries.


At an August meeting, Salisbury Township commissioner Joanne Ackerman said she feared a small voter turnout might hurt the chances of a referendum that would keep the township library tax. She supported keeping the tax.

Fellow commissioner James Seagreaves told her, "That just means you have to reach out to people who want the library and get them to vote."

Ackerman and other library tax supporters must have done their job, because township voters Tuesday overwhelmingly decided to continue paying the small tax to ensure they can use the Allentown Public Library or any other library.

With 88 percent of the votes counted, residents approved the library referendum 1,637 (73 percent) to 595 (27 percent). The totals, posted on WFMZ-TV's website, are unofficial.

Township residents had a choice: either continue paying a 6-cent levy on every $1,000 of assessed property value for continued library access or reject the tax and start paying for library services out-of-pocket.

Salisbury does not have a public library. Residents either use the Allentown Public Library or other area libraries. The library tax averages about $15 per year, according to a previous Patch story.

At the August commissioners meeting, Renee Haines of the Allentown Public Library said that without the tax, the out-of-pocket cost for residents would be $40 per year, per household.

The current township library tax system began in 1993. The township pays approximately $81,559 from taxes collected in order for residents to utilize libraries in other jurisdictions, mainly Allentown.

If voters had repealed the library tax, it would not have taken effect until Jan. 1, 2015. The township would have had to notify the Allentown library by April 1, 2014 and then wait until the beginning of 2015 for the library tax to end.

At the August meeting, commissioners voted 3-2 to place the library question on the ballot. The Salisbury Township School Board last month approved a resolution in favor of keeping the library tax.

Commissioners Seagreaves, Robert Martucci and James Brown voted in favor of the resolution. Commissioners Ackerman and Debra Brinton voted against the resolution.

Brinton said at the meeting that she'd received phone calls and e-mails from township residents asking that commissioners not get rid of library services.

"Why are we doing this?" Brinton said.

"I've had people who heard about this and asked me where we're building the new library," Ackerman said.

Martucci said the referendum, if passed, was one way of softening the blow of looming tax increases. "It's no secret that tax increases are looming down the road," Martucci said.

Haines told commissioners that 2,366 households in Salisbury Township have someone holding a library card. Haines said as of July of this year, a total of 3,210 had checked out an item from the Allentown Public Library.

Brown said that he's had a library card for between 18 and 20 years and has never utilized the library.

Haines said for every $34 in library tax spent, the average resident borrows seven books per year.

"We have to educate our residents on our website that it's not just a library anymore," Ackerman said. "It's a cost-effective savings for parents."

Haines pointed out that many people in Salisbury Township do not have Internet service and depend on the library for that.

The referendum read as follows:

"Do you favor continuing the library levy, which is currently set at a rate of 0.06087 Mills on each dollar of assessed valuation or 0.60087 cents on each $100 of assessed valuation on taxable real estate in Salisbury Township, to fund library services through the Allentown Public Library system for all Salisbury Township residents?"





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