If you don't buy this taxing district, we'll kill this library
Familiar hostage-taking by politicians -- this time, the Multnomah County commissioners (scroll down). Whatever they're doing with this proposed new library district, they're continuing to do it in a particularly nasty way. The library deserves better.
| Posted at 7:45 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (8)
Wow. Nothing says team work like threatening to take the ball home if you don't play by our rules.
Posted by LucsAdvo | August 18, 2011 8:00 AM
This might make you think differently about taxes for libraries.
http://cascadepolicy.org/pdf/fiscal/2002_13.pdf
Posted by John | August 18, 2011 8:02 AM
John - I'd have some questions to clarify your user fee proposal. And I am not being snarky. I am looking for clarifications. Would the fees be per user, per household (and what is the definition of household if that is used - could my live-in, unmarried spouse share a household card) or ????? If per user would there be discounts for kids and seniors? Would their be different levels of fees - average user fee (for those of us who borrow less than 10 books a year) and high user fee for those who borrow 50 plus books a year.
I can tell you the detail geeks would ask questions far more detailed than mine but while you have a good start with your suggestion, it needs to be fleshed out a lot more.
Posted by LucsAdvo | August 18, 2011 8:23 AM
It isn't my proposal, I just remembered reading it some time ago and googled it.
If it were mine I would charge by the book and by the day but I'm sure there are plenty of smart people that could figure out a system and modify what works and what doesn't over time.
Posted by John | August 18, 2011 8:45 AM
Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen says the measure probably won’t go on the ballot until the May 2012 primary election ...
Which is just about the same time PPS will come out with its brand new "trust us this time" billion dollar bond.
Get your popcorn, folks, this is going to be a fun show.
Posted by Garage Wine | August 18, 2011 9:17 AM
Great. I will have fled the state by then.
Posted by Maria | August 18, 2011 12:59 PM
This could help drive a friend's decision on whether this is the year to retire, sell the house, and move back out near the folks.
Posted by LucsAdvo | August 18, 2011 1:44 PM
Recent years gave us serious mismanagement of library inventory. Now we have a clumsy self-checkout "automated" system with lousy graphics instead of clear instructions.
The idea of a special tax district is appalling: It removes accountability to the county's elected commissioners. Just like the boards of Tri-Met, Port of Portland, PDC, are beyond the reach of taxpayers
To consider separating library functions from the overall county budget this way is a neat way of kicking the can of fiscal responsibility instead of setting priorities and serious analysis that might make library operations a bit more self-liquidating.
While I'm ranting, I must point to the virtually unlimited number of items that one can check out at a single time. Why not charge a fee beyond a certain number?
Posted by Don Lief | August 20, 2011 6:47 PM