Commission meets library halfway on mill levy request

Members of the Beck-Bookman Library Board of Directors asked the Holton City Commission for extra funds to cover operations costs at the Holton library — funds that would come from a special city property tax levy — for fiscal year 2019.

The commission responded by agreeing to meet the library board halfway.

During the commission’s Monday, July 2 meeting, commissioners agreed to up the mill levy for the library from five mills to six after library board members asked for an increase of two mills, which would generate about $40,000 to cover operations and maintenance costs at the library.

“We hate to do it, because nobody likes a tax increase,” library board treasurer Mark Will told commissioners.

But rather than granting the full two-mill increase, as the library is funded by city property taxes that are set by city ordinance, Commissioner Dan Brenner suggested the library follow in the footsteps of Holton Community Hospital and set up a foundation that would oversee fund-raising activities for the library.

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