Athens County Libraries Levy 17, originally passed in 2019, is expiring this year, putting a replacement and increase on the ballot for 1.5 mills.
It is estimated to generate $2.175 million per year, according to the County Auditor’s worksheet. Currently at 1.2 mills, the proposed levy will increase by 0.3 mills for the next five years.
According to Athens County Loves Libraries, a political action committee dedicated to helping pass Levy 17, the replacement levy will cost approximately $3.94 per month for $100,000 of property value, compared to the current levy that costs property owners approximately $2.45 per month.
Nick Tepe, director of Athens County Libraries, explained that before the 30% libraries’ budget cut passed by the State in 2009, Athens County Public Libraries was fully state-funded.
“In order to deal with that back at that point in time, hours were cut, staff were laid off,” Tepe said. “It was really devastating for the library system and the whole community.”
To make up for budget cuts, the libraries passed their first local property tax levy in 2014. However, Tepe said over the past five to 10 years, state funding has increased a small amount but is not enough for services to be maintained.
“When we passed our last levy in 2019, that was increased to 1.2 mills, and now we’re kind of in the same boat where our costs, as everybody’s, continued to go up, but we have not received increased funding from the state,” Tepe said.
Tepe said the library system needs increased funding from Athens County residents to offer library services at its current level.
Jill Davidson, Athens County Auditor, detailed the resources her office supplies on its website. Property owners can type in their addresses to explicitly view and understand the individual effect of the library levy.
“It’ll show how much they’re currently paying, how much they would be paying if the levy passes, and then what the difference would be, so they can actually see a direct impact immediately,” Davidson said.
The Ohio Library Council developed an economic return on investment calculator for libraries, which uses a library’s actual 2022 services such as circulation, programming and computer usage to calculate its individual return on investment.
According to the calculations, for every $1 spent on library services in Athens County, $3.27 comes back into the local economy.
Tepe, who has worked for the Athens system for eight years, sees the library as essential for residents.
“I have always believed in the power of libraries to improve their community, and libraries are at their best when the community is involved and working to help support the library,” Tepe said. “We can respond to the things that the community brings us that they need from their library."
Laura O’Neil, Treasurer of Athens County Loves Libraries, doesn't want residents to lose the library’s resources.
“The libraries do so much for our communities,” O’Neil said. “They provide safe space for kids, access to the internet. I personally use the printer and copier at the Athens Public Library all the time since I don’t have a printer at home. Not to mention the access to physical and digital materials.”
Tepe said the library provides information, resources and entertainment residents need to live their lives to the fullest. These include having kids in the library for storytime, helping those looking for jobs, providing internet access, helping with resumes and navigating the social services system.
“I really do see the library as the beating heart of the community, where we’re taking in all of the information that’s available in our community and then finding ways to connect it to people in the library, and then pushing that back out into the wider community,” Tepe said.
