For the second time in six months, a county council member and area residents called for a revote on an already approved tax increase to pay for a new library branch.
At the Johnson County Council’s Monday meeting — the first for the county’s two new council members Melinda Griesemer and Ron Deer — the council heard calls from six residents who asked it to reconsider or pause Johnson County Public Library’s $8.8 million project to build a new Clark Pleasant branch in Whiteland.
The council in December 2019 approved a 2.5-cent property tax hike — to 9.5 cents from 7 — for every $100 of assessed value. For a $100,000 home, the extra taxes would amount to $8.19 annually.
For the past year, residents have continued to raise concerns about the vote and about the need for the library. But just one person spoke out at the meeting when the council voted in favor of the tax increase, while the council chambers were filled with those who spoke in support of it.
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Now, more than a year later, the issue has resurfaced. Residents called on the council to reconsider based on economic uncertainty stemming from the coronavirus pandemic and the federal transfer of power from President Donald Trump to President-Elect Joe Biden. Residents also questioned whether the library will be used as the world becomes more technology reliant.
They also objected to how the tax increase that enabled the library passed, with three of the five council members present voting in favor of the increase. Residents claimed the vote was illegal because the increase was considered at a meeting when just five of the seven council members were present, and a majority of the seven-member council did not approve it.
Griesemer told the council she too, based on her research, believes the vote was illegal, and said in her opinion, the library is not needed. Further, she said many members of the public do not want a new library and some have expressed interest in a lawsuit.
Griesemer called on the council to revote and said in an interview Tuesday that it is “selfish, self-serving and irresponsible” to not take a revote when residents ask for one.
“Elections have consequences. I was hired to represent the entire county as an at-large representative. The citizens spoke when they voted against a library in 2012,” Griesemer said. “I maintain that the vote by the previous county council is an illegal vote.”
Johnson County Attorney Shena Johnson restated to the new council members and residents who attended the meeting that the vote was legal. State law says a majority of a county council is not required to pass a tax increase unless the body’s bylaws say so, Johnson said.
Other council members pointed out the 2012 vote — on a referendum for several different projects — was not the same. The failed 2012 referendum was a $29.9 million ask to build a new downtown Franklin branch and parking garage, turn the current branch into administrative offices and renovate the White River Township branch.
A council committee was formed to evaluate the council’s bylaws and make sure future tax increases are passed by a majority of the council, not just a majority of those present at the time of the vote. The committee was formed in August, after council member Pete Ketchum requested the council consider a revote.
The council in August did not have an interest in considering a revote because the library had already started the design process and, technically, the vote was legal. Council members conceded that a bylaws change is needed and put that process in motion.
The council on Monday decided again against a revote for the same reasons, and said the project is too far along to consider a change.
Council members Rob Henderson and Jim Ison, both of whom voted in favor of the library, said they would not be willing to reconsider the tax increase. Both said the library is needed and it is too late to stop the project.
Besides Ketchum, who restated his previous request for a revote and a change to the bylaws, other council members kept quiet on the issue.
Johnson County Public Library Executive Director Lisa Lintner spoke up at the meeting and asked that any residents who object to the library reach out so she can more clearly explain the need for a new library to serve two of the county’s fastest-growing townships.
The need is clear. When there is not a pandemic, programs at the Clark Pleasant branch are often filled to capacity and some are turned away for lack of space. The current branch, a 10,000-square-feet former office building the library has used since 2002, no longer meets the needs of the area’s growing population, Lintner said.
The new branch will provide double the space and serve as a sort of community center for Whiteland and New Whiteland residents to gather. Since the branch will be south of U.S. 31 and Whiteland Road, many Johnson County residents will have easy access to it, she said.
A new and improved library will better help the county weather hard times, as it did during the most recent economic downturn. For example, an unemployed person who can’t pay their internet bill can apply for jobs and file unemployment claims at the library, Lintner said.
The library has also shown it can evolve with changing times, by its resilience during the pandemic, she said. Though library doors were closed, library employees stayed busy offering its services in new ways, such as virtual programming, curbside pickup and, more recently, home delivery.
Additionally, Lintner said library patrons choose physical copies of books over digital offerings. Library statistics show in 2019, only 18% of the library’s rentals were digital content, while 1.1 million were physical copies.
And stopping the project now would waste $1.1 million that the library has already invested in design, engineering, fees and land acquisition, Lintner said.
Following the December 2019 tax increase approval, library leaders went straight to work and are preparing to finalize construction plans next month, she said.
In February the library board will open bids and $7.7 million in bonds will be sold to finance the project. The library put up $1.4 million of its savings to pay for the branch, Lintner said.
“I want the community to trust us that we are spending the community’s money wisely,” she said. “Because of its position on (U.S.) 31, I think people all over the county will get to use it.”
