Altadena : Voters to Decide Library Tax

Altadena Library District trustees have voted to put a special library tax on the ballot next June that would cost property owners $25 to $39 a year if approved.

Board members voted unanimously Monday to try to keep the library’s doors open seven days a week by raising $400,000 annually through a parcel tax on property.

The special tax, similar to one Pasadena residents approved this summer, would require two-thirds voter approval. In the meantime, the 120,000-book library will be closed Sundays starting today because the state has taken $500,000 in property tax money normally allocated to the library in the past two years.

To keep the doors open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, trustees will be forced to spend all $220,000 in resrves this year.

The decision to campaign for a special library tax was sealed Monday night when Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed a bill allowing libraries to assess fees on local property, said William J. Tema, Altadena’s district librarian.

The Altadena Library District, one of only two special library districts in the county, is funded by Altadena property taxes.

In 1983, a special library tax ballot measure in Altadena got 62% of the vote, slightly less that the two-thirds approval needed.