Although the court declared unconstitutional December 4 a local statute affecting only the funding formula for the Kanawha County Public Library, the 3–2 decision is expected to have far-reaching effects because similar statutes exist in eight other West Virginia counties, including Berkeley. Officials of the Kanawha County Board of Education had sued the state education agency in 2003 for reimbursement of $2.2 million that the board of education was mandated to divert from its state allocation of funds to KCPL.
The ruling stays enforcement until FY2008 begins on July 1 so legislators can address what Justice Elliott Maynard, writing for the majority, declared to be a violation of equal protection principles in counties where school boards are “required by law to provide financial support for non-school purposes,” according to the December 7 Charleston West Virginia Record. However, dissenting Justice Joseph Albright cautioned that the decision would “have long-term detrimental effects on the public library systems throughout this state—systems that are undisputedly beneficial to the students and citizens of this state and that are clearly educational in nature.”
Kanawha County Public Library Director Linda Wright told American Libraries that the FY2006 allocation from the county board of education constitutes 30% of the library’s $7-million operating budget. “The question we have,” she added, “is how will the legislature address this issue, and we hope that it will not be done by changing provisions in our special acts that refer to funding from boards of education.”
Posted February 2, 2007.