City Council Wants Voters To Boost LA Library Funding
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The Los Angeles City Council agreed on Tuesday to place a measure on the March 8 ballot that would boost funding for the city's libraries, which have been forced to shut down for a day each week because of budget cuts.
Voters will be asked to consider amending the city charter to guarantee that the Library Department receives a larger share of the city's property tax revenue for its annual operating budget.
Councilman Bernard Parks, a former police chief, proposed the initiative, saying "libraries are probably our best crime prevention dollars."
"The number of young people that come in (for) the educational opportunities, the after-school programs, the tutorials...it has a great impact on the criminal justice arena," Parks said. "The more young people are educated, the less they might go into the criminal justice system."
Several library patrons presenteed the council with boxes of letters urging them to support the initiative. They denounced budget cuts this fiscal year that reduced library service from six days a week to five for the first time in the city's history.
The budget cuts also forced the layoffs of more than 100 library staffers. Adele Wallace, a Librarians Guild official, told the council, "I'm aware that to fully restore library services we have a long way to go, but I encourage you to take this positive first step."
Under the city charter, the Library Department receives 0.0175 percent of the assessed value of all property on the city's tax rolls. The ballot measure would ask voters to boost that portion gradually over the next three years, until it reaches 0.03 percent.
City Librarian Martin Gomez said the initiative, if approved, would restore the department's budget to 2009-10 levels — enough to keep all of the city's 73 libraries open at least six days a week, four evenings per week.
Nine locations would also remain open on Sundays.
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