KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI — Library officials are asking voters in Richland Township to support a tax increase to help modernize and maintain facilities and improve programming and hours.
The Richland Community Library Board of Trustees is proposing a 0.75 millage in perpetuity to be placed on the November 2025 ballot.
The current library millage, originally authorized at a rate of 1.0 in 1981, was later reduced to 0.79. The proposed levy would increase the total library millage rate to 1.54.
The library is located at 8951 Park St. in the village of Richland.
Library Director Jack Buck said it’s been 25 years since the last renovation at the library. Cracked steps out front are one example of an item the funding could go toward, he said.
The facility could use the money to upgrade technology and address needs like repaving the parking lot and fixing window leaks, he said. It could also fund a dedicated space for teens, which is not a part of the library today, he said.
If the millage passes, the library would add more hours, opening on Mondays and extending Saturday hours, he said.
If the millage fails, the library would remain open, but it could not address needs and would may need to reduce some spending, Buck said.
“Some current services, staffing hours, programs, digital borrowing limits may need to be reduced over time just as infrastructure and operational needs arise,” he said, in the scenario if the millage fails.
“So eventually you would reach a point where, you know, the staircase needs to be addressed,” Buck said.
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Without the millage, the facility would have to find a way to reduce other expenditures to make a fix like that, he said.
The millage would be an increase of approximately $75 per year per $100,000 of a home’s taxable value.
A home’s taxable value is roughly half its market value.
The average taxable value of a home in Richland Township is currently $147,250 (with a market value of $294,500). It is estimated that the proposed additional library millage will cost an additional $110.44 in the first year for a household of this value, officials said.
The township has about 8,693 people, according to the U.S. Census.
The election is on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
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