Archive: Opinions

EditorialThe failure of library to become independent by only 34 votes illustrates a divide in Lansing that appears to be here for the long haul.  While some saw a wonderful resource run by volunteers who have been fiscally conservative and responsible, others saw a new taxing authority on top of onerous taxes already suffered in the area.  Putting the library vote onto the school ballot virtually doomed it to failure, enhancing the misperception that it was part of the school district and linking it to a 7.4 rise in school the school tax levy this year.

Ironically, linking the votes was another way the library board attempted to save money.  By tacking their issues onto the school budget they estimate they saved about $4,000 it would have taken to hold a separate vote.  And library officials now say that if they had conducted a separate vote the initiative would certainly have passed, that residents voted against taxes, not against the library.  Penny-wise was pound-foolish for the vote.

It may have been pound-foolish for the voters as well.  The library tax would have amounted to about $30 per year, give or take.  But it would have had other tax impacts as well.  State and county tax money that currently goes to the Tomkins County Public Library (TCPL) and independent libraries in other towns around the county would have come back to Lansing if the initiative had passed.  Without our own library there is nothing to prevent TCPL from trying to get more tax money from Lansing as they abortively tried in Ithaca last year.  In addition the Lansing facility would have been eligible for grants and programs that it can't tap into currently.

Between the library board being amazingly conservative in their spending and the additional revenue opportunities, the bang for a buck that would have amounted to the cost of a single hardcover book per year would have been astounding.  It would have covered the salary of a certified librarian, and expanded programs and the collection.

The volunteers are showing signs of burnout, though they are making a valiant effort to keep the library open, and efforts like the Summer Reading Program are still going forward.  It would be a shame if the library closed, especially since it is entirely paid for with no mortgage or other debt.  Library officials hope they can bring it to another vote in the near future, and that it will pass.  I hope so, too.

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