We need a new library in Morgan Hill. Our present building was
completed in 1972, more than 30 years ago. It covers 14,000
square-feet.
We need a new library in Morgan Hill. Our present building was completed in 1972, more than 30 years ago. It covers 14,000 square-feet.
When it was built, the population which was served by the library was approximately 8000 people. This same 14,000 square foot library now serves 43,500 people. Not only is it not an adequate space for the population served but it was built without the infrastructure needed for today’s electronic resources such as the internet.
In 1981 the city of Morgan Hill set up a redevelopment agency. The redevelopment area covered most of the land within the city limits at that time. Any increase in property taxes on the land within the redevelopment area goes to the city of Morgan Hill instead of to the other governmental agencies which collect property tax. One of the other agencies is the Santa Clara County Library. Since 1982 part of the property tax which would normally go to the Morgan Hill Library has been diverted to the Morgan Hill RDA.
The original RDA was set up to collect 100 million dollars in tax increments. In the 1990’s as this limit was approached, the city began a campaign to extend the RDA and collect another 150 million dollars. The voters of Morgan Hill rejected the first attempt to extend the RDA, and also the second. In order to finally get the extension passed the city implemented a Visioning Process whereby the residents of Morgan Hill would let the city know what facilities they wanted to be built with the RDA money.
When the Visioning Process was completed, the new library was one of the highest rated projects. The next time the RDA extension was on the ballot, it passed. Most library supporters felt that a new library was assured.
Fast forward to December 2003. Many of the projects rated highly by the Visioning Process have been built, ie, The Community Cultural Center, or are in the process of being built, ie, the Aquatics Center. Most of the money to be collected by the RDA has been committed to various projects. But, as the City Council/RDA have repeatedly stated, there isn’t enough money to build everything identified in the Visioning Process.
The RDA alotted $5.4 million for the new library in hopes that the remainder of the $20 million would be supplied by a grant from the state. The city, in conjunction with the library, has now spent thousands of dollars and many man-hours to apply for this state money two times. The bottom line is that many communities have a greater need than Morgan Hill. Some have had no libraries at all until they received the grant money. In addition, Morgan Hill already has a source of funding a new library, the RDA. The state has turned down our request both times.
There is now a third and final round of application for the state bond money. The Morgan Hill City Council has decided to apply once again for the state money even though those who are most familiar with this whole process feel there is virtually no chance of receiving the money. The library Commission has recommended against trying the third time. A third application will involve reworking the application and a new needs assessment costing thousands more of taxpayer dollars.
Most importantly, by the time the application has been submitted in January and three to six months have passed to learn the results, all the remaining money of the RDA $150 million will be irrevocably committed to other projects and there will be nothing left to build the new library.
For reasons of fairness and practicality, I don’t believe this should happen.
In fiscal year 2002/2003, the Morgan Hill RDA collected $556,000 that would otherwise have gone to the Santa Clara County library system. This reduced the size of the county library’s budget overall and then reduced Morgan Hill’s portion of the county library budget. Thus, the Morgan Hill library is cut twice by the RDA siphoning off our tax dollars. In the over 20 years of Morgan Hill’s RDA, the library has lost millions of dollars and will continue to do so into the future. We have the lowest share of the county library’s budget of the seven cities in the library system. We have the lowest share, not because of our population, or our circulation, but because so much of the assessed valuation of Morgan Hill is in the RDA.
During the Visioning Process and the repeated campaigns to extend the RDA, Morgan Hill Library supporters were virtually promised a new library. Library supporters have been patient and waited several years as the process of applying for the state money has taken place. State money is not forthcoming, but other groups in the community have lobbied for their pet projects. We have the Community Cultural Center and theater, a very expensive Aquatics Center, a soccer/field sports complex in the works and now a proposed Indoor Recreation Center which will take the remaining RDA dollars. All of these are worthy projects providing for the recreation of Morgan Hill citizens.
However, I would argue that the library provides not only for the recreation, but also for the education of the community. The library provides free service for every member of our community from babies to senior citizens.
The Santa Clara County library has been selected for the third time as the best library of its size in the whole country. It is time for the city of Morgan Hill show some support for this community asset.
A new library will not cost the city anything to run. The books and other materials, the librarians, clerks and pages are all paid for by the county. Our present library was built by the city, but paid for with lease payments for 25 years. The regulations for the RDA do not allow RDA money to be used for ongoing operations of any project. The City of Morgan Hill will have to dip into its general fund to pay for any operation expenses not covered by fees in its other RDA projects. The library will not cost the city one red cent for operations.
For these reasons, I urge the City Council to build our new library now. Library supporters have been working on this project since 1995. In that time, the library has become much busier and crowded. Many library patrons still think the new library will be built. They have no idea that this project has been relegated to the bottom of the list and that the city has made no provision to fund it if the money from the state bond issue doesn’t come through.
This community deserves a new library building to support our top-rated library.
Phyllis McLaughlin is a retired Morgan Hill librarian. Readers interested in writing a guest column should contact editor Walt Glines at ed******@*************es.com or 779-4106.
