New Jersey Tax Cap Threatens Dedicated Library Funding
The New Jersey Library Association got major support from library users in January with its campaign to send thousands of postcards to legislators opposing any efforts to weaken local library funding. Volunteers, Friends, and trustees made themselves available in many city public libraries to help patrons fill out the cards and draft a personal message to Gov. Jon Corzine. The campaign focused on a bill, currently in the state Assembly, that targets a dedicated library funding formula in place for more than 120 years. NJLA Executive Director Patricia Tumulty told American Libraries that more than 25,000 people signed the cards over a two-week period.
In April 2007, Gov. Corzine signed landmark property-tax reform legislation designed to reverse the state’s cycle of steep annual tax increases. Part of the package included a 4% annual cap on property-tax hikes used to fund school districts and local government services. The reform, which offers credits and rebates, was hailed as welcome relief for New Jersey homeowners who, according to the Washington-based Tax Foundation, paid the highest property taxes in the United States in 2006.
Unlike similar tax-cap legislation in California, Massachusetts, and other states, New Jersey has a law that mandates dedicated funding for municipal libraries. Enacted in 1884, it ensures that 33 cents of every $1,000 in assessed property values will go to local public libraries. But mayors and city officials have expressed concern because in some communities this fixed amount takes up a significant portion of the 4% increase allowed, forcing police, health, youth, and senior services departments to compete for dwindling funds. The situation is aggravated by the fact that, as a 2006 report by the New Jersey Association of Realtors points out, local governments are more constrained in their fundraising ability than in other states because revenues from sources other than the property tax are lower than average.
One bill currently before the state legislature threatens to handicap the dedicated library funding, while another would allow city libraries to transfer excess funding to help cities pay for essential services. A1567 limits annual increases in fixed library revenues to 4%. Under current law, when a community sees a big increase in property values, library funding increases to reflect that growth, up to a limit of 15%. “That sounds like a lot,” Tumulty noted, “but that is really only 15% of 2% of the budget. Basically, none of our municipal libraries are funded by more than 3% of the local tax bill.” Knocking the cap down to 4%, she added, greatly limits a library’s potential growth.
A1265 allows trustees to donate surplus revenue to municipalities, under certain circumstances and subject to approval by the state librarian. This bill was approved 6–0 by an Assembly committee January 24; a companion bill is in the state Senate. Tumulty said this bill probably has enough popular support for passage, possibly as early as February 7.
NJLA is strongly advocating for a third bill, A1139, which would keep dedicated library revenues out of the 4% tax cap. The association’s argument is that since municipal libraries were created by popular referendum, their revenues should not fall under the cap. “With a similar proposal last year,” Tumulty said, “we believed we were very close to getting libraries out of cap,” but it never went for a vote. NJLA hopes the postcard campaign will send the message that it’s time to try again.
Librarians predict grave consequences if A1567 is passed. “Everything would change,” Old Bridge Public Library Director Marjorie Cyr said in the January 24 East Brunswick Sentinel. “I believe that we would be looking at a reduction of hours [and] a reduction of services and the purchase of books if we were to undergo funding cuts.” Carole Hetzell, president of the Jamesburg Public Library board, worries that the library will be forced to charge for services and programs that are now free. She said in a January 17 letter to the Sentinel that her “entire budget is not more than the salary of two policemen in town. The majority of our staff barely makes more than the kids in a fast-food restaurant, and only the director is full-time.”
Tumulty told AL that many of the comments on the postcards were heartfelt and showed that people well understood the effects of reduced funding. One she pulled out at random said, “With all the waste and abuse that is constantly reported in government, public libraries are not a reasonable choice for making a cut. It’s absurd.”
In another New Jersey funding emergency, a popular online service will cease after February 28 unless the legislature grants State Librarian Norma Blake’s request for an additional $1 million. The New Jersey Knowledge Initiative, a free statewide portal that provides business owners and sci-tech students with web access to specialized databases, lost one-third of its funding last June when the current budget was finalized. NJKI came about in late 2006 after State Library officials assembled a large subscription list that database vendors found attractive enough to allow a lower price. But the contract runs out at the end of February. “This is a shared service that really works,” Blake said in the January 30 Newark Star-Ledger. “Once [it] is lost, New Jersey will never get these resources back at these prices.”
Posted February 1, 2008. Discuss.