Residents to vote on library millage
BLOOMFIELD HILLS – For avid Bloomfield Hills readers like Sharon Siegel, the past six years with no free library available to the community have been difficult.
But that may change Tuesday, May 5, when Siegel and other Bloomfield Hills residents will have a chance to vote for a library millage.
“A lot of us in Bloomfield Hills who love to read want to see the millage passed,” said Siegel, 50.
If the proposal for a 0.72 mill property tax passes, Bloomfield Hills residents will be allowed to take advantage of all services offered at the Bloomfield Township Public Library.
Bloomfield Hills residents had a contract with the Bloomfield Township Public Library for nearly 40 years that allowed residents full access to all the library’s services. The contract expired in 2003.
Neither the township library nor Bloomfield Hills could agree on an annual fee that Bloomfield Hills residents would pay. As a result, the contract was not renewed and Bloomfield Hills residents were left without a home library.
A deal was made with the Troy Public Library where Bloomfield Hills residents paid $200 for a nonresident Troy library card and the city of Bloomfield Hills reimbursed the residents.
“I paid $200 the first year,” said Siegel, who discontinued it after a year.
“It was a farther distance to drive, the services did not compare and the number of books, CDs and programs were not up to what Bloomfield Township had to offer.”
Siegel reads between one and two books a week and wants to get them from the library, she said.
“It would cost a fortune to buy that many books,” Siegel said.
Although her children are grown, Siegel said, “Bloomfield Hills residents with children in the Bloomfield Hills Public Schools were not able to coordinate homework assignments with the Troy library.”
The proposed property tax would pay for a $531,246.05 library services contract between Bloomfield Hills and the Bloomfield Township Public Library. The amount is based on the average property taxes paid by Bloomfield Township households to operate the Bloomfield Township Public Library.
“Our mission is to serve the taxpayers of Bloomfield Township,” said Karen Kotulis-Carter, director of the Bloomfield Township Library. “I am happy to see that a positive agreement was made with the city of Bloomfield Hills and the library board.”
According to library officials, the average household in Bloomfield Township pays $326.33 per year for library services.
“That is a real bargain,” Siegel said.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2009/04/30/news/local_news/doc49f96bd1068d4841371303.txt#photo1
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