Residents here will have to pay $100 for a library card, the City Commission tentatively decided during a budget workshop Wednesday.
Presently, library cards are free for residents because the city is one of five beach communities that are members of the Gulf Beaches Public Library in Madeira Beach.
In a 4-1 vote, the commission decided to resign from the Gulf Beaches cooperative and no longer pay its $107,132 annual share to finance library operations.
The city would not subsidize the cost of new library cards for residents, as do most other cities without libraries.
The action is part of the commission's attempt to shift responsibility for expenses from property taxes to user fees. Without severe cuts in expenses, the city faces a 17.25 percent property tax hike to fund its originally proposed $16.78-million 2008-09 budget.
"If we are to withdraw, the library will cease to exist," warned Mayor Mary Maloof, who was the lone voice opposed to leaving the library cooperative.
"I love the library. I'd hate to see us not belong to it, but there are certain things that we can't afford, and we have to make sacrifices," Commissioner Phil Collins said.
Source: St. Petersburg Times
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