Taking taxes
City funnels library cash into other services

By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Tuesday, September 1, 2009 10:43 AM PDT

The roof and clerestory windows need to be replaced at the Ontario Aquatic Center as part of several expensive repairs that may be possible because of funding previously directed to the library.

ONTARIO — Ontario residents should not expect to see any return on property taxes that used to go toward funding the Ontario library now that an Ontario Library District has formed.

The City of Ontario stopped providing funding for the newly named Ontario Community Library June 30, the end of the last budget cycle. The city was only putting approximately $200,000 a year, or approximately $400,000 a biennium, into the library when the Ontario Library District — the new taxing district for the library — secured approval by voters.

Now that the Ontario Library District has formed, the money the city allocated to operate and maintain the facility has returned to the city’s general fund, which is used to fund most city services except for utilities, including the Aquatic Center, parks and recreation, cemetery, police and fire.

“Well, it’s money that basically was not extra money when it started,” City Manager Henry Lawrence said of the money previously allotted to the library.

He said, the problem is, through the years, to maintain all the various services, the city has had to spend more money than it had coming in through taxes — dipping into city reserves.

ADVERTISEMENT

Now, the Ontario Library District is running the library as its own separate taxing district, which means voters approved an increase in property taxes so those funds could run the library separately from the city.

In turn, money was freed up for the City of Ontario, relieving some of the pressure of consistently having to dip into reserves and allowing that money to be used for other things, Lawrence said.

“I’m not sure how much $200,000 would equate to every household,” if it were to be returned, Lawrence said.

For this budget cycle, at least, the money previously directed to the library will be used primarily for the Aquatic Center.

The City Council approved spending funds to pay for a number of smaller projects and will consider paying for a  new roof for the Aquatic Center in this budget cycle as well.

“But we’re looking at several hundred thousand dollars in renovations and repairs in the next few years,” Lawrence said.

The city likely would have had to borrow money to make those improvements, and it appears now it won’t have to, Lawrence said.

Lawrence pointed out, again, it wasn’t money the city had to give back anyway because it was money basically from the city’s emergency fund and borrowed money. He said, the fact that the city has stabilized its budget and is not in a spiral of deficit spending is a good thing.

“I think our citizens would be happy to know we’re trying to live within our means,” he said.

Ontario resident Riley Hill said he could not comment on the best use of the funds now that they have been returned to the general fund.

“I don’t know what it should be used for. I just know the Ontario residents are paying double now,” he said.

Hill said, he’s pro-library, but when the county stopped contributing to the library, property taxes didn’t go down, and now that the city isn’t putting the money to the library, the city taxpayers’ property taxes weren’t reduced, and Hill wonders why the taxpayer of Ontario should bare most of the burden.

“It’s an additional tax on the citizens of Ontario,” Hill said.

He said, to make it fair, the city taxpayers should either have gotten that money returned, or the library district should have paid rent to the city of Ontario for the building.

“It’s the equity of the thing,” he said. “The Ontario taxpayer is the one that is bearing the biggest amount of taxes.”

Jessica Keller is the News Editor for the Argus Observer. She can be contacted at JessicaK@argusobserver.com. Care to comment on this story? Go online to www.argusobserver.com and check out our blogs.