Library bill through Senate, next stop state Assembly

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Library bill through Senate;
next stop, state Assembly
by Steve Coulter ? The state Senate last Thursday approved
a bill that would allow cities to break away
from county library districts and to receive
all property taxes they have paid into the
county library system.
Senate Bill (SB) 1998, which passed by
a 22-13 vote, would also allow cities that
choose to break away from the county sys-
tem access to library buildings and their
contents at a reasonable price.
Locally, both Manhattan Beach and Her-
mosa Beach could be affected by the bill
which next has to pass through the state
Assembly on its way to a proposed July 1,
1997, effective date, according to Jim
Wolfe, Manhattan Beach Parks and Recre-
ation director.
It could take the bill as little as three
weeks to reach the Assembly, according to
Wolfe.
"We don't know what committee it will
go to in the Assembly," Wolfe said. "There
is speculation that it will go to the Local
Government Committee, but we just don't
know."
Manhattan Beach, along with Hermosa
Beach, is among a number of cities sup-
porting SB 1998 following years of dimin-
ishing quality at Los Angeles county-run
libraries in the face of a $16 million coun-
tywide deficit.
In 1994, Manhattan's libraries were cut
down to one when the Manhattan Heights
library was closed by the county.
Similarly, Hermosa experienced reduced
hours and staffing the same year, with the
county keeping the city's only library open
just two days a week.
Although the county is unable to provide
a per-library operating cost breakdown,
many cities feel that they could run their
own libraries given the chance and the ac-
cess to property taxes paid into the county
system.
Cities are able to leave a county library
system under current law, but forfeit all
right to property taxes they have paid into
the system.
Hermosa city staff researchers found
that approximately $310,000 to $360,000
of property tax money was paying for the
county to run the Hermosa library. City of-
ficials figured that Hermosa could run the
library for $287,000 five days a week,
eight hours a day after buying the building
and stocking the shelves.
For the fiscal year 1993-94, the last year
for which figures are available, Manhattan
Beach paid $903,000 in property taxes to
the county to run its two libraries, accord-
ing to Wolfe.
"If the numbers are correct, you can see
that we could feasibly run this library our-
selves," Wolfe said. "The frustration our
city, and many cities like it have, is that the
county can't give us concrete numbers."
Both Manhattan and Hermosa Beach
have supported the bill since it was first in-
troduced by state Sen. Richard Mountjoy
of Claremont, but neither city has said for
sure whether they would split from the
county given the option.
"Council supports the option," Wolfe
said. "They have not publicly discussed
breaking away (from the county system)."