Stephanie, you said:
However,
the end of your message relates to one of the points that I make. If a city
library is dissatisfied with the amount of money that the county provides to
it -- then how does it work to the library's benefit to say: "Oh, you give
us such a pitiful amount of money that you should just keep it. Don't
bother us with it. We plan to serve your people for free and would rather
do it without your money."
I guess you need to determine the amount of loss of direct aid if you keep a
non-resident fee (I assume your fee is for out of county). Will the amount
you lose in direct aid for keeping the non-resident fee be greater than what
you collect in the non-resident fee. That is the science. Balance that
against what may be the increased use of the library sans non-resident fee
(How many more best sellers are needed? More staff to serve the people,
process paperwork? More storytimes). That is the art. Then determine your
comfort level at the estimated loss of quality of service for the tax paying
public vs. the amount of good will that truly free use provides for the
non-resident. There is probably some level that is acceptable. And as both
of our cities take massive infusions of sales tax dollars, the ad valorem
argument begins to be weaker for either one of us. How does your finance
director/city manager feel about this issue?
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