City Council open to discussion but not sold on tax increase for Cedar Rapids library

CEDAR RAPIDS - A pitch for raising property taxes in phases over five years to 15 cents to help the Cedar Rapids Public Library budget is getting mixed reviews so far from City Council members, who'd have the final say.

At this point, several days after Mayor Ron Corbett floated the '3-by-5” tax increase plan, the council is not sold. But some of its nine members said they welcome the discussion.

'It's a trial balloon,” member Susie Weinacht said. 'I look at it as a chance for a conversation, an opportunity to hear from folks. ... I have no definitive opinion on this yet. I am hearing from folks on both sides.”

Weinacht called the library a community hub that helps provide equity and said recent cutbacks are evidence that forecasts of budget woes 'wasn't crying wolf.”

Weeks after the library cut hours, positions and other expenses and with a projected $200,000 shortfall in fiscal 2018, Corbett said last week he was offering a solution to prevent more cuts in services 'year after year after year.”

The idea wouldn't come before elected leaders for action until planning next year for the 2018 budget cycle. And although the idea calls for phasing in the tax increase over five years, it would not be binding from year to year - the council could change it mind.

Some of the council members said they'd oppose the plan if it came to a vote now - partly because Cedar Rapids voters five months ago rejected a referendum calling for a 27-cent library tax levy by a 55 to 45 percent margin.

'My inclination is if it came to a vote tomorrow I would not vote for it,” member Scott Overland said. 'Voters spoke on it in November, and I think we need to respect the voice of voters.”

Overland and member Scott Olson said given the recent vote, a property tax increase for the library should come back before voters as another referendum.

'We should see how the library does and how the public responds to cost-cutting measures that are in place and follow up with research about library usage after the cuts,” Olson said. 'If there still is a feeling help is needed down the road, the library trustees would come forward with a proposal that could get public support through a levy referendum.”

Olson said the cuts are so recent that it's hard to judge whether they are too severe. Patrons may adjust their patterns and times they go to the library in response to the reduced hours, he said.

Council member Kris Gulick said he doesn't see the failed referendum as indicative of opposition to any tax increase whatsoever, but rather that voters didn't support an increase of 27 cents per $1,000 of taxable assessed property value.

'What I can verify from the vote is 27 cents is too much,” Gulick said. 'That is the only thing I can verify. ... They voted ‘no' to raise taxes for libraries, so we shouldn't have libraries? That's not what they said, either. It's somewhere between we don't want a library at all and we don't want to pay 27 cents.”

The library gets 72 cents of the $15.22 per $1,000 property tax rate in Cedar Rapids. Under the '3-by-5” idea, that would increase by 3 cents a year until plateauing at 15 cents extra in five years.

Gulick said he is open to discussing a tax increase, but isn't committing yet.

Several of the City Council members said they are receiving feedback both positive and negative. Overland estimated 90 percent of the opinions he's taken oppose the tax increase.

Among other council members, Ralph Russell said at this point he wouldn't favor the tax and wanted to see the effect of existing cuts. Ann Poe said she thinks the discussion is a good thing, but she doesn't have a position on the plan yet. Pat Shey and Justin Shields couldn't be reached for comment, although Shields spoke in favor of the plan last week.