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Posted September 9, 2005.

Indianapolis Nixes Library Tax Increase

A city-county oversight board has denied the Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library its request for a $1.5-million tax increase that would have raised money for its ongoing $103-million expansion project. The September 8 Indianapolis Star reported that the Municipal Corporations Committee approved a $45.7-million budget without the increase. Approximately 82% of the library’s budget comes from property taxes.

MCC Chair Ron Gibson said the city had promised funding to complete the central library’s expansion several years ago, but the fiscal situation has changed. “They claim it will be disastrous,” he noted, “but it’s the right thing to do for taxpayers.”

But IMCPL Board President Louis Mahern said that without a tax increase the library would have to consider cuts in services. “In the past, we’ve tried to make the cuts as unnoticeable to the patrons as we can,” he told the Star. “I think we’ve run out of those options.”

Disputes over faulty construction work with contractors in 2003 caused the library to fall behind schedule.

Posted September 9, 2005.