Wow, even more taxes for city residents! (Pittsburgh, Liberty: how much, schools)

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by UKyank

I could get 10,000 signatures for anything to present to council if I spent enough time out with a clipboard......put it to a referendum if you want to see if residents really are willing to pay a special library tax. I sure wouldn't vote for it.

The 10k signatures are the first step in getting it on the ballot... a referendum is the whole point of the effort.

[raubre]

Everybody does use a library or has used a library at one point or another. Sure I'd rather have no taxes, but this one may actually make more sense than any of the otehr ones.

Look at how many other taxes are out there that no one has no clue to what they are used for. Would you rather not have your kids know how to use a library?

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Lobick

The 10k signatures are the first step in getting it on the ballot... a referendum is the whole point of the effort.

Well I apparently can't read & skipped over the referendum part in the very first sentences....I thought they were trying to get the council to just vote on the measure; then yea, it's fine, i stand corrected.

[scrapp]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

A friend of mine has told me that Oakland, California has a tax like this one.

We already have this tax. It is called the RAD tax, and it is that extra 1% sales tax you pay when you buy something taxable in Allegheny County. That's what is supposed to be funding the libraries.

I don't see why we should do a city-only property tax to increase funding for a library system that benefits the entire county (e.g. via eiNetwork). That's not going to get my vote.

[hempfield mania]

Here's a novel idea, why not use a good portion of the extra revenue from the already instituted raised parking rates and put it towards the libraries. Quit funding the pensions with that money and actually get something worthwhile from it.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by hempfield mania

Here's a novel idea, why not use a good portion of the extra revenue from the already instituted raised parking rates and put it towards the libraries. Quit funding the pensions with that money and actually get something worthwhile from it.

Harrisburg would not allow the City to do so. State law mandates the funding of the pensions.

Also recall that the State required that parking tax rates be lowered recently but oddly enough the rates charged by the providers didn't fall accordingly.

[Geeo]

I'd vote for the tax. There are things the libraries have that are not available digitally, ie, articles of historical interest in the Pennsylvania Room, out-of-print books, sheet music, art books. Plus the library is a sort of community meeting place. I frequent the main libraries in Oakland, East Liberty and Squirrel Hill a lot, and the number of kids who go through those places to take advantage of the programs is incredible.

[tranceFusion]

Originally Posted by PharmGuy

Maybe people with money should ignore their not so fortunate fellow man and keep living the great White american dream! Shame! I wonder what else "people with money" want...

you can be an idealist and I'll be a realist

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by scrapp

We already have this tax. It is called the RAD tax, and it is that extra 1% sales tax you pay when you buy something taxable in Allegheny County. That's what is supposed to be funding the libraries.

I don't see why we should do a city-only property tax to increase funding for a library system that benefits the entire county (e.g. via eiNetwork). That's not going to get my vote.

Sort of. We have evey non-profit under the sun asking for dollars from the RAD tax. For example, we gave a lot of money to help Upper St. Clair with one of their parks. Didn't realize this was a regional park, but apparently it is. And 5000 to the Bulgarian National Education and Cultural Center. Now, I realize that many of these smaller non-profits depend on these grants but I personally would rather have a stable library system than many of these smaller non-profits.

[tranceFusion]

Originally Posted by ML North

I don't see the difference between a "place where poor people can use digital devices for free" and a place where poor people can read books for free. It's kind of the purpose of the public library.

Prior to the past decade, access to such a breadth of information was not available anywhere but a library. Your typical bookstore was much smaller than a typical library. To have access to that kind of information in your home would have required an exorbitant amount of space, money, and effort.

Today, all you need is a bottom end computer or e-book reader and an internet connection and much of that information is available in public domain, and in the next decade that gap of missing information will close. So, the potential user-base of the library has greatly diminished.

Frankly, I could see even the poorest individuals' use of a library diminishing as old and nearly costless computer equipment remains competent for tasks such as basic web browsing, and more and more places offering free wifi and even free city-wide wifi starting to gain traction..