According to Yavapai County Administrator Phil Bourdon, Yavapai County Free Library District’s intention to raise its secondary property taxes is not an increase over previous years: Instead, it is intended to return the levy to its former level.
On July 20, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors resolved briefly into the YCFLD Board of Directors to hold a courtesy Truth in Taxation hearing on the proposed tax increase. If approved, the increase will reinstate the levy to recession levels — $620,017 or 16.1 percent. For a $100,000 home, YCFLD secondary property taxes will increase from $16.42 to $19.07.
According to a press release from the YCFLD, the proposed increase is “exclusive of increased secondary property taxes received from new construction. The increase is also exclusive of any changes that may occur from property tax levies for voter-approved bonded indebtedness.”
Bourdon addressed the board of directors, saying, “You maintained a very conservative environment in your library” — lowering the levy for the YCFLD in order to make up for budget shortfalls elsewhere. He added that over the last few years the board has sought to allocate more funds to the library district, culminating in the current proposal to fund libraries more fully.
“This is kind of a hot button for me,” Yavapai County Supervisor District 1 Rowle P. Simmons said, describing major budgetary challenges that caused the Board of Supervisors to request surplus funds from the YCFLD. “I personally had assured the library district that we as a board would work to get them whole and back to order …. Now we’re coming back and saying we need to recoup some of this and put them on an even keel.
Simmons added a personal endorsement, saying that he had seen “firsthand the value of these libraries in small communities.”
Likewise, Yavapai County Supervisor District 5 Jack R. Smith called libraries “invaluable” and added that “the time is now” to increase the levy.
Cottonwood Mayor Diane Joens praised the board for the decision. “Because the library is the heart of every community, I support you in this.”
Interested citizens are invited to attend the public hearing on the tax increase scheduled Monday, Aug. 1 at 9:30 a.m., at the Board of Supervisors’ Hearing Room, 1015 Fair Street, Prescott.
