Thursday, January 30, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

No time like the present

Despite taxpayer anxiety, library district wants to book bond question on spring ballot

By Geoff Schumacher

In 1991, local voters made one of their best decisions ever. They narrowly approved an $80 million bond issue to build libraries across Clark County. The resulting library branches have become exactly what library district officials promised: immensely popular and useful educational and cultural gathering places. In addition to making available millions of books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, computer access and other resources free of charge, these facilities feature art museums, performing arts theaters, community meeting rooms and an array of entertaining and educational programs for children.

The county has grown quite a bit since 1991, and the level of traffic at local libraries reflects it. Free access to computers and the Internet has become a huge draw, causing people to line up outside before branches open to get on a computer. In addition, the library district has been responsive to its patrons' wishes, expanding hours of operation and offering more popular titles for checkout.

"Our current libraries are operating at absolute maximum," says Nancy Ledeboer, deputy director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. "Our circulation has gone up 65 percent in the last three years. In the last six months we've circulated almost as many books as we did in the entire year of 1999."

So, naturally, library district officials have been thinking about building more branches to accommodate the growth. In 2001, they proposed placing a $74 million bond issue on the ballot, but the Clark County Debt Management Commission, which decides whether tax-related questions go on the ballot, wouldn't approve it. At the time, the county was pushing hard for a bond issue to build a children's hospital, and it didn't want a library bond competing for voters' favor. The children's hospital bond failed.

Library district officials vowed to return, and they have done so this month, pitching a revamped $51.6 million bond issue for the June 3 ballot. The money would be used to build four new branches as well as make improvements to existing branches throughout the county.

Three of the new branches would be in the Las Vegas Valley and one would be in Mesquite. New libraries in the southwest (near Rainbow and Windmill) and northwest (U.S. 95 and the 215 beltway) would be about 25,000 square feet, while new branches in the eastern valley (Bonanza and Lamb) and Mesquite would be 15,000 square feet. The Mesquite branch would replace a much smaller facility. The two larger branches would be roughly the size of the Rainbow, Enterprise, Whitney and Spring Valley libraries. The district already has land for the branches.

"We're just trying to keep up with the growth," says Ricky Barlow, chairman of the library district board. "There are a great many people in outlying areas who have to come into the urban community to visit a library. That's very difficult for a lot of schoolchildren. It's difficult for their parents to drive all the way into town to utilize a library after school. We want to make sure everyone equally has an opportunity to patronize a library within a two- to four-mile radius."

The bond isn't just to serve growth areas, however. In addition to the four new branches, the bond would pay for upgrades to existing libraries, especially in terms of technology. "We want to make sure every library has the same access to computer technology as we'll have in the new buildings," says Ledeboer.

The first hurdle the library district must overcome is getting the Las Vegas City Council, Clark County Commission and Debt Management Commission to agree to put the bond question on the ballot. Public hearings are slated in February before the city and county boards, with the debt panel to follow.

"Our position is to allow the voters to decide," Barlow says. "My hope is this item does not get caught up in a political web. I would hate for the city of Las Vegas or Clark County or Debt Management to hold this item hostage."

If the bond question gets on the ballot, the next hurdle will be taxpayer fatigue. Gov. Kenny Guinn has proposed $1 billion in tax increases to balance the state budget. The state Legislature convenes next week to consider his plan. If Guinn gets what he wants, voters may be reluctant to take another tax hit for libraries, even if it's just $8.82 per year in property tax on a $100,000 home.

Dan Walters, the library district's executive director, compares libraries with schools. Clark County voters repeatedly have approved bond issues to build new schools, largely because rapid and unrelenting growth leaves little choice. "Libraries go to the heart of neighborhoods," he says. "They go to the heart of schools. The kids are going to turn into adults and libraries play a pivotal role in equipping them for that kind of change."

The district is aware that Henderson voters have turned down two recent library bond issues, including one last November. But Walters says the Las Vegas-Clark County plan is different. "My understanding is there were some unique local issues in Henderson regarding perceptions that the improvements were more intended for newer areas at the expense of older areas," he says. "That aside, library issues don't do so well on a general election ballot where there is a lot of negative campaigning going on. Voters tend to go to the polls with kind of a negative hat on. They're voting against things rather than voting for them. Henderson also had to contend with one of the longest ballots in memory. The library issue was the last thing on a ballot that went on page after page. We'll have a better chance without the distraction of a lot of out-of-state money being poured into negative campaigning."

Walters notes that the two times the Las Vegas-Clark County district has put bond issues on the ballot, they were in the spring and they passed. "Traditionally, the education issues, the quality-of-life issues, get their best hearing in the spring," he says.

Ledeboer, the deputy director, says the timing of the bond election may not be ideal, but the district feels it can't wait any longer. "If we can pass this bond issue in 2003, the soonest the new buildings would be open is 2006," she says. "If we have to delay, the population in those areas is only going to continue to grow and need more services."