Medina County District Library replacement levy
MEDINA COUNTY — On Nov. 6, voters living in Medina County will see the Medina County District Library’s (MCDL) 1.25-mill replacement levy on the ballot.
The levy, initially passed by voters in 1992 and later renewed in 1997, would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $40 a year. According to Diane Dermody, manager of the Hinckley branch, the levy currently collects at 0.6 mill and costs the owner of the same $100,000 home about $21 a year.
The replacement is necessary to have the levy collecting at its full 1.25 mills, Dermody said, since the levy is the MCDL’s only local revenue source and accounts for 40 percent of its overall revenue. Voters did pass a 1-mill bond issue in 2003, but funding from that source can only be used for construction purposes, she said.
Dermody said the current levy collects a little more than $2 million. Funding would jump to about $4 million should the replacement pass. If passed, she said the increased revenue would be used for operating expenses.
If defeated, Dermody said the current levy would expire at the end of the year. As a result, cuts would be made to reduce new book, movie and music purchases by 50 percent, cancel all library programming, eliminate visits to the homebound, reduce bookmobile stops by 50 percent and eliminate at least 75 of 190 staff positions.
— By Mike D’Agruma
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