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St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Lee Enterprises

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 8:13 PM CDT
Charleston library district nixed by voters

By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com

CHARLESTON — A referendum to establish a Charleston Carnegie Public Library District won approval within the city limits Tuesday but failed outside of the city, meaning the referendum failed.

Residents in the Charleston city limits voted 1,062 in favor and 655 opposed to expand the library’s service area from the city limits to include the entire Charleston school district. Residents outside the city limits voted 815-410 against expanding the service area and creating the proposed library district.

In order for the referendum to pass, it needed to win approval both inside and outside the city limits.

Cumberland County residents within the Charleston school district voted 5-3 against the proposal.

If approved, the library’s service area would have been expanded to include residents in Ashmore, Lerna, Hutton, Bushton, Fairgrange, Rardin and the rural areas in between. Those citizens would then have had unlimited access to all Charleston library services without needing to buy an out-of-town library card.

Property owners in the outlying areas of the new library district would have paid the same regular library tax rate as Charleston city property owners. The owner of an $80,000 home, for example, would pay $51.56 per year under the library’s 2007 tax rate.

In proposing the creation of a library district, Charleston library officials cited prospects for reaching out to unserved residents in the Charleston school district, improving the library’s property tax base, and annexing unserved areas so they cannot be annexed by another library district.

Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.

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