City agrees library can set its own millage rate

It appears that a longstanding question of who sets the millage rate for the Birmingham Baldwin Public Library has been resolved in favor of the library board following a May 8 meeting between Birmingham City Manager Janna Ecker and Baldwin Public Library Director Rebekah Craft and legal counsel for both government units.

Although neither the city nor the library has made a formal public announcement of the decision reached at the early May meeting, officials from both organizations say that the city agreed that Baldwin Public Library is a totally independent library and is entitled to set its own millage rate when planning budgets each year.

The issue of whether the city commission could tell the library what millage rate the library could set was rekindled in recent weeks when it was proposed that the library might lower its millage rate now that the three-phase construction project for the library was completed. The suggestion of a millage decrease was made as a means of buffering taxpayers if a bond issue to build a community center was placed on the ballot. There have been other instances in past years where the city commission has attempted to exert control over the library’s millage rate.

In advance of the May 8 meeting, library legal counsel, Anne Seurynck of the Foster Swift firm, presented the city with supporting documents outlining how the library was originally formed and how it is now operating as a city library under state law Public Act 164 Section 10a as opposed to being governed by the city charter as officials for the past 20 years have maintained.

With this issue resolved, the library board on Tuesday, May 20, voted to reconfirm the millage rate for the next fiscal year at 1.2789 mills. When the library was originally formed through a vote of the electorate, the maximum millage was set at 1.75 mills but the Headlee Tax Limitation Amendment rolls back the millage rates each year, hence the lower rate for the coming fiscal year.

At the library board meeting this week, board members authorized the library director to research the cost of services from third parties to compare with services now provided by the city, prompted by a debate over service charges from the city that were increased substantially in late Februarty.

The city provides and bills the library for human resource services, payroll services and financial services, along with levying a charge for collection of the millage and a portion of property assessment costs.

The charges from the city, which have not been updated in over 15 years, according to city officials, were at $105,000 annually and in the new proposal have been raised to $219,000.

Library director Craft explained to the board that legal counsel has advised her that collecting of taxes and assessment of property is a function of the city and library law does not provide that such charges can be passed on to an independent library.

Craft shared with board members that she felt a “more equitable amount of payment” would be $89,454, with the library paying for services of human resources, payroll and financial work only.

The library director said she has compared how other neighboring libraries handle such items and felt an obligation to gather cost information from private companies before engaging in further discussion with city officials.