After years of paying library tax, Oxford voters being asked about it

OXFORD - When voters in Oxford go to the polls in the Nov. 3 city elections, they'll be asked to approve an additional property tax for the library - a levy similar to one they've paid for years without their permission.

The new five-year levy would add 27 cents per $1,000 of taxable assessed property value to the Oxford Public Library's annual operating budget. Officials estimate it would raise a little more than $4,000 a year to benefit the library, which is open three days a week in the city of about 800 people.

Oxford Mayor Gary Wilkinson said the levy, which he said hasn't received much public opposition, would help a reinvigorated library board add resources to the library at 112 N. Augusta Ave.

'I think the new library board is really starting to look at what we can do to make the library more attractive to our population and for specific age groups that have not been addressed in the past,” Wilkinson said. 'There's a new energy, and people have come forward to volunteer their time, so people are becoming aware of the library situation and want to see it improve and that's a big plus.”

While the levy vote is new, Oxford residents aren't strangers to the tax.

Ted Nellesen, fiscal policy analyst with the Iowa Department of Management, said a 2014 statewide check - conducted by county auditors - of all levies found that the 27-cent Oxford library levy, which ran from fiscal years 2011 to 2014 and generated between $2,700 and $3,100 annually, had never been voted on by the public.

Elected officials have discretion to adopt some levies themselves. But some levies - like this one - require a public vote of approval.

'When I did the research, that was the only one I found that was not compliant for not having a vote, so it's not common in this county,” said Mark Kistler, deputy auditor for Johnson County.

Nellesen, who said such issues are uncovered about five times a year in the state, said there is no punitive measure for such an infraction. That said, the levy was removed from the city's budget, which is why it is now coming back for a vote.

'This is one where it needed to have a referendum done so it was either just a miscommunication or a misunderstanding of what needed to happen before they could actually apply it,” Nellesen said. 'Usually it's just a matter of finding them, fixing them and educating them on doing things properly.”

If approved, those funds will be added to the library's existing $7,000 budget, which is provided through a block grant from Johnson County, according to the Johnson County Finance Department. The tax money would be used to add resources to the library, said Sara Uthoff, library director.

Recent updates have included an official website with an online catalog and a long-awaited transition from VHS tapes to DVDs.

'The library has made some really great strides this year already,” Uthoff said.

But other needs include structural updates and repairs and increased hours.

While voters will be asked to approve a tax they've already been paying, they'll also be asked to pick a new mayor although no one is listed as a candidate.

Wilkinson, who is not running for another term, said that matter has been addressed even though voters won't see it on the ballot.

Mayor pro tem Sara Morlan has agreed to run as a write-in candidate.

'We twisted her arm almost all the way off, because I think everybody thought she would be a great mayor,” he said.

Morlan still will be listed on the ballot as a council candidate, and Oxford probably will have an empty council seat next year if she moves to mayor. County auditor's office

officials said it's likely that the 2016 council will appoint someone to fill that empty council seat.