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Midpoint Library asks Middletown council to place five-year replacement levy on ballot
Summary
Midpoint Library leaders told Middletown City Council they will ask voters to replace a 0.75-mill levy for five years; council registered the measure in ordinance form for consideration at the Jan. 21 meeting.
Midpoint Library officials asked Middletown City Council on Jan. 7 to place a five-year replacement levy for the Midpoint Library District on the ballot to restore funding to 2010 levels.
Travis Bautz, executive director of Midpoint Library, and Emily Foote, the library’s fiscal officer, told council that the library currently operates on two main revenue sources: the state public library fund (about two-thirds of revenue) and a local levy (about one-third). Foote said the local levy currently in effect was originally approved in 2010 and has eroded in value over time; Butler County Auditor calculations showed the levy’s effective value now equals about 0.45 mills compared with the nominal 0.75 mills on the ballot. The library is therefore asking voters to approve a replacement levy at the same 0.75-mill rate for a five-year term rather than a continuing levy.
Foote said the library previously presented a continuing levy that voters rejected in November and that the new proposal narrows the scope to a five-year projection and trims the millage to a flat replacement of 0.75 mills after feedback from voters.
Acting City Manager Ashley Combs and council members asked clarifying questions about the proposal and potential homeowner cost. A council member referenced a commonly-estimated impact of “about $26 per $100,000” of assessed value; the library offered that differences in property valuation calculations mean the effective millage has shrunk since 2010.
Council later introduced ordinance 02025-01, “determining to proceed with submitting the question of a replacement tax levy for the benefit of the Midpoint Library District,” as a second-reading emergency ordinance; no final action was taken at the Jan. 7 meeting, and staff noted the matter will return for council consideration on Jan. 21.
The library emphasized services funded by the levy that would be affected if the funding is not restored: materials and collections, summer lunch programs, passport acceptance, case management and social service referrals, homebound delivery, and two makerspace locations including a podcast/recording studio.
