Colleges in Worcester, MA, May Help Support Public Library
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 11/11/2008
- City previously requested payments in lieu of taxes
- Colleges may be more inclined to direct payments to library
- Library budget is tight
City officials in Worcester, MA, may have come up with a novel way to support public libraries in a time of shrinking municipal budgets: ask local colleges. The presence of several tax-exempt colleges in the city has prompted perennial debate about requiring the institutions to provide compensation for municipal services via payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs). Now, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, there may be a middle ground, via the libraries.
Rather than simply paying into city coffers, the funds from the colleges would go to the Worcester Public Library. “It would seem to be a place of common interest,” Councilor Philip P. Palmieri told the newspaper. “In their role as educators, the colleges would be helping us protect a service that draws more people into the downtown than anything else. We should be looking at the public library as a critical area and priority in our discussions with the colleges.” He chairs the council’s Economic Development Committee.
Mark P. Bilotta, chief executive officer of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, told the council that “it’s a discussion worth having.” Though he was not speaking on behalf of any of the colleges nor making a commitment, the newspaper noted that his statement represented far more of a rapprochement than in the past.
His statement also came in response to a report that taxpayers had spent about $1.5 million on 2300 public safety responses to the schools over two years, according to the newspaper. A city report noted that the colleges have an assessed valuation of nearly $500 million and, according to Palmieri, endowments totaling more than $1 billion.
No sum was discussed regarding a potential contribution to the library. The library’s FY09 budget is $5.36 million, an increase of $121,651 over the previous year. The materials budget is $551,605, an increase of only $20,054, which represents the minimum needed to comply with a state requirement that 12% of the budget from tax levies be appropriated to get state aid.
