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Welcome, everybody. It's so fun to have a full audience of people who are interested in talking about the library. So welcome.

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Welcome to our truth and taxation hearing. We are going to start off with an invocation by Council Member Smith, and then the Pledge of Allegiance by Council Member Campbell.

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Our Father in Heaven, we're thankful this evening to meet together citizens of Highland. We're very thankful for the opportunity that we live in a constitutional republic.

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we're thankful for our freedoms. We're thankful for the opportunity to meet

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together as we discuss our budget priorities. We ask you to bless us this

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night that we may have thy spirit as we deliberate that we may talk to one

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another civilly and with respect and these things we pray for name of Jesus Christ

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Amen.

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Please join me in the pledge.

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Okay,

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just reminder and for those of you who

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haven't been here before. Highland City believes in treating everybody with

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civility and respect and we ask everybody to act and speak accordingly and not

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applies not only to our comments to the council and to each other but also just

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in the respect for the meeting and the process in general. So we are so happy to have

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you here and we will go ahead and get started. So the one item that we are

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talking about tonight is the Truth in Taxation and our budget. So those will be the two things

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that we will be accepting public comments on. So if you're here to talk about anything else,

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we invite you to come back next week. On Tuesday, we'll be here same time, same place.

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So the way we're going to start this is we're going to have our City Administrator Aaron Wells do

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a quick presentation for those of you who haven't heard it before. And following that, we will open

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it up for public comment from people in the audience, then we'll go ahead and open

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it up for public comment for anybody who is online and then we'll bring it back to

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the council for discussion.

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And just before we get started with our public hearing, just so you know the way that this

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kind of goes is we're just going to listen to your comments, we'll be at back here taking

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notes and thinking about everything you have to say, but it is not an opportunity for a one-on-one

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dialogue.

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So, council members might write down questions as we go, but we don't respond individually.

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So, that's pretty much how it's going to go.

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So, if you didn't sign any yet, please go ahead and do so.

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If you have a comment card, please bring it forward.

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And we'll go ahead and turn it over to our City Administrator, Erin Wells.

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Thank you, Mayor and Council.

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While staff normally presents from the front, we thought it would be good for me to present

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from here today for our full audience, much

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fuller than we normally receive.

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Thank you for all of you in attendance.

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Many of you I recognize and have been

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to this presentation in some variation before.

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For you, I apologize for the repetition.

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We have tried to summarize it to keep it a bit more brief,

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but hopeful that this isn't totally new information for any

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of you as we have tried to do our best

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to advertise this information to our residents.

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High-level summary. What are we talking about tonight? So tonight the council is considering

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an increase to the dedicated library property tax. It would add an additional $172,488 of revenue

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to the library budget annually. The increase would be $2.38 per month or $28.49 a year for the average

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a child at home that's valued slightly over $1 million.

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The purpose of this increase or the proposed increase

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is ultimately to maintain the library's current offerings,

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what we are currently doing.

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First, it would transition one part time employee

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to a full time position,

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and then it would add an additional two part time employees

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to the library staff.

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This would allow us to keep pace with what's called

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collections with Pleasant Grove and American Fore can do a courier system every day that we

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are open, and then also to keep up with the demands of our regular programming that is currently

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going on.

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Finally, this additional revenue would help replace last revenue that was previously funded through

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the federal government for Libby, which is our electronic book application.

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that funding has gone away and so that would help to replace that and to account for the

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increases that we are seeing in Liddy. I will say that the library is a very different

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library than when it has begun and while we have grown our offerings to this point, what

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this ask is to maintain those offerings as it is currently. Where are we at right now?

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Our library staff cannot keep pace. We've already had to cut back on some programs in order

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to keep things going, so ultimately that's what this request is. It's about keeping up with what we currently have offered at the library at this point.

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The changes over the years have been varied and have ultimately been to provide service to our residents, to provide service to our card holders, and to stay relevant as a library, and to provide that for our community.

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that's not just a repository of books or materials or information but also a community gathering

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place and a place for programming and other things.

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As we talk about the library and the use of the library, Jay, it's not working for me.

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Let's talk about who is using the library.

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So we have the library staff pull our current list of card holders and say, okay, how many of

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those are unique Highland addresses? And compare that to our total number of homes. Over 63% of

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Highland homes have a current library card, which means they have used that library card in the

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past three years. On average, those card holders are checking out over 52 books per year, and every day we

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We see 209 people come into our library.

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And then annually, again, this is last year data ending in June, annually over 8,000 people

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attend our children's program.

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When we talk about the library, the library is a small part of the city's overall budget.

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It makes up just 2% of our entire city budget.

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Last year's budget, it was $332,000.

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A majority of the library where the library gets its budget, a majority of the revenue

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all comes from property taxes.

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Well, not all, 75% of the library's budget comes from property taxes.

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The other 25% is through other fees, non-resident card amounts, grants, things of that nature,

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but a majority comes from property taxes, which is why we're having this conversation tonight.

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The library, the city established the library tax rate in 2007.

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It was set up as a dedicated rate by the City Council at the time with the intention

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of ensuring that there was dedicated funds set aside for the library and that's the

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way that they felt like they could do it was by establishing a dedicated rate.

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The next year the library opened here in the city.

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In 2010, the last time the city council has adjusted the property tax rate was in 2010

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when it actually reduced the property tax rate at that point.

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And then here we are in 2026 where the city council is considering an increase to the rate.

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And again, those are the only times the city has touched the rate.

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Now I know many people will say that your taxes have increased during that time

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And while that absolutely is likely true,

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let me jump forward a minute,

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it is likely due to other entities.

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The only time that a property tax,

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an entity that does property taxes

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gets more revenue through property taxes

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is either through growth or if they adjust the rate up.

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That what we do every year is essentially

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the county gives us our rate based on inflation.

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So when you actually, if you look to see

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The orange line is the average home value.

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So as the average home value in Highland has risen over the years, the state automatically

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lowers our rate so that we obtain the same amount of money except for growth.

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Again, the only time the council has touched the rate since in 2012 when someone established

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the library tax rate was in 2010 when it lowered the tax rate but ever since then the rate

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has lowered.

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So, when you see your property tax bill go up, it is likely due to one of these other entities.

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So, the Highland City Library makes up 2% of residents tax bills on average.

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When you look at the city and the library together, we're about 10%.

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73% of the average tax bill is made up of Alpine School District currently.

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And so, that is the bear of taxes in our community.

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I mentioned this earlier, but just to reiterate what this tax increase would mean.

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So the average highland home currently pays $54 annually using round numbers towards the

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library dedicated tax.

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This would be a proposed increase of $28.49, which would mean that the average home in

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would then be paying $83 annually for the library dedicated tax rate. It is a 52% increase for the

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library rate and then if you considered the city and the library together it would be a 5% increase

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to the city and the library rate as a whole.

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This graph compares and shows where we are at currently in

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terms of tax rates compared to where we would be at and this is isolated just to entities who have a

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dedicated library tax. We're not looking at other entities. So you can see where Highland

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is at currently in the yellow on the far right side of the graph and where we would shift

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to. The red line across the top is the average rate. Again, when you look across the state

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at the other entities who charge a dedicated library tax. If you're looking for any other entities

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that are nearby us, particularly you talk County, you can see Santa Quinn is right in the middle

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of us. Right now we charge less, we would then charge a higher rate than them. The next

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one in, again in Utah County of Provo City, you can see charges a rate that, and they

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are towards the top there above average when you look across. So, while this absolutely

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is an increase, it's a 52% increase of the rate. What I believe this shows is that we are

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Again, this is keeping up with the current offerings but not trying to become a massively

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large library or really trying to push above and beyond what other libraries are doing.

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The Council has considered and continues to consider are there other sources of revenue

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that can cover these expenses?

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One of the big ones we got asked, especially in the information sessions, that we've held

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previously was about increased fees.

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Can you charge a fee for library users rather than a tax of everyone?

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Can you just charge the users a fee?

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So Utah State Law dictates how public libraries can be funded.

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And essentially it allows, it does not allow for public libraries to charge for what we would

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call core services.

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So things that are directly the core part of the library.

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And our mind that means books.

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And so you cannot charge people to come in and check out books no matter the format.

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whether we're talking about digital books or whether we're talking about physical books.

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If we began to do that, we would lose our state certification. We would no longer be a public library,

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which would mean we can't charge our property tax anymore.

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We couldn't receive any grant funding through the state and we would lose access to the state's Libby collection.

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So Libby again is about electronic system.

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When you use Libby, you're not just using what Highland City has bought.

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you are using what the state of Utah has bought as well and that they have put in millions

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of dollars so that would be collection far and above what we can afford to do.

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Savings or reserves is another consideration that the council can make.

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Ultimately, what we're talking about when we're talking about the uses of these funds,

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they're ongoing uses and it's not best practice to use one-time money, your savings account

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for ongoing uses. Could the, another question we've received is could the city subsidize

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on the library? So we have different funds throughout the city, right? The general fund, could

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the general fund start paying the difference, right? And to pay into the library fund.

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And actually, if you notice in one of the earlier graphs, the city did do that this year.

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But it was a $20,000 in comparison with $173,000 that we're talking about. Ultimately, that

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That methodology is a possibility, but it would change the philosophy of what this city has

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done for the past 19 years in terms of the library funding.

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The council intentionally set it up to be its own dedicated source and it had to fund

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itself from that library tax, and that would change how the library would be moving forward.

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Donations are a similar story to the savings or the fund balance in that they're fantastic

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and we really appreciate the outside entities who do get the library donations, but it

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is not best practice to rely on those for ongoing expenses ultimately.

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As I can fluctuate throughout the year, the city does not control that ultimately and so

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relying on an ongoing budget for that proves risky.

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What about cuts?

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So a budget, a budget is absolutely the council's statement towards

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It's priorities and it's desired level of service. Yes, the library could cut its budget, the library could change what it is in order to not need this property tax. It's ultimately a decision for the city council or the pros and cons work that are the benefit or are the trade off between the lower level of service worth the cut that it would mean. And one of the questions was asked in our last information session, well, how much would these save?

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So, one of the things that the Council could consider doing is exiting TLC.

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To the NOGIS Library Consortium is, again, a shared partnership with American for

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Complasant Grove where we trade books amongst each other so that essentially we have access

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to all three catalogues of books.

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That service we've been doing for about a year now and it's very valuable for our residents

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but it is proven much more time-consuming than we realized for our staff. Hence the need

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to add additional staff. So exiting TLC would save $80,000 out of the budget. Now, there

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are implications, not just what we talked about in terms of longer wait times and less

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availability for card holders to be able to access books, but there would be negative implications

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with our partner libraries, not just with those, but also to nuplic the county, not full

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county library system, but where we also have access to Lehigh and Eagle Mountains systems.

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We would be jeopardizing our access there as well because we would no longer have the necessary

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amount of books to be part of that partner. We could eliminate programs. If we were to completely

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eliminate our programming budget as well as one person who is dedicated to programs, it would say

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in the library $36,000 per year.

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Again, programs are what, as libraries have adapted

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to our current day and age, it is one of the things

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that makes the library relevant.

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And as a reminder, we had 8,000 people attend

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our children's programs last year.

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In addition, we could reduce hours.

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That's been a question that we've been asked.

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So if we were to close four hours per week, for example,

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we are only open on four hours for Saturday.

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If we were to close four hours per week,

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it would save $10,000 per year.

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It's because the majority of our staff are part-time,

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and so being open necessarily for a short period of time

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is not a large money figure.

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And if you remember, the total gap that we're trying

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to cover is $173,000.

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So even if all of these were added together,

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it's about $125,000.

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We're still not quite there.

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So it would mean even additional cuts at that point.

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One thing that we are required to show

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There was a part of this truth and taxation process is what other entities are doing throughout

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the county that could have an impact on Highland residents tax bills.

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And so this is Utah County's notice again.

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We have these for you available in the back as well, but these are the other entities within

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Utah County who are considering a tax increase.

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The only other one that impacts Highland residents would be the central Utah water

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or Conservancy District, which they are doing a .71% increase or that is their proposal

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to del consider later this month.

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And this last slide just is an impact schedule that summarizes that you should have all received

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in your taxation notices that came from the county that summarizes what we just talked about.

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And from their mayor, that's the extent of my presentation.

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Perfect.

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Thank you, Erin.

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Before we get started with the public comment, I just wanted to say a couple of things.

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First, I want you to know that the City Council and I do care about this.

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We don't take it lightly.

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Somebody said to me the other day that this is the easy way out and I assure you this

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is not the easy way out.

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Everybody here has worked really hard to be physically responsible and do the best thing for you

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and recognize the impacts that it has.

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So we're going to go ahead and open up our public comment in just a minute.

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Just a reminder about that dignity, the statement that we take really seriously here, and then we'll go ahead and take public comment one at a time and your comments will be limited to three minutes.

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If you feel like you just want to say the same thing as somebody else, feel free to stand up and say, did oh, but we do try to not have any laughing, laughing, laughing.

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We can laugh, applauding or booing is what we're going to try to avoid here.

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We can laugh, yes.

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Let's see.

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So I think that's what I wanted to say.

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So we'll go ahead and open up for public comment.

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I'm going to start with our comment cards that I've been collecting.

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Once we're through the comment cards, we'll ask if there's anybody else in the audience who

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would like to comment as well.

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So saying that we'll go ahead and open up our public hearing and we will start with Mr. Jackson.

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Garth Jackson following that we'll have Kit Burton and Sean Flattery just so you can kind

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of prepare yourself. And when you come up just go ahead and restate your name for our recorder

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and welcome we're so happy to have you. Thank you. Garth Jackson, excuse me, fairly new resident here.

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We just moved in about three months ago and we've very much enjoyed this community has been a great change from where we came from

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One thing about where we did come from our property taxes were about five times which yours are here and

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30 years ago they were about the same but one noble cause after another they added on to the property taxes

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Till I'm paying about I was paying about $1,400 a month for property taxes. That's almost rent for a lot of things and

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And so I think you just need to be aware of the cumulative effects of these taxes, one thing at a time they can get out of control.

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I do think that the library's legitimate purpose for the city to fund and to take care of.

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I do think they have to be careful about controlling the costs you are presented with a number.

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And I really think you need to debate each element of those before you pass it.

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One good example was the TLC. I think it's a good idea to share with the other libraries

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in the area, but I don't think it's necessary to have a staff person running around delivering

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books. It cost money a lot more than they expected, as they said. And if I checked out a book

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under the TLC, I'd take the seven minutes to drive here and take the 12 minutes to drive

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to another library. So I think the users would be just happy to pick those books out and

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and say that staff time for something else.

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As one of the other programs I think they had on there was the senior program, which

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is a really great idea and it's good that the library provides a place for them to meet,

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but it's a social program that's more a legitimate function of the city government instead of

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the library and it should be funded through the city government as well.

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I'd say I don't oppose the library, I think it's a good idea and there may be some classic

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that are appropriate, but I think you need to consider each part of it as you go along

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so that we get an appropriate tax increase instead of just an overall blank figure.

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Thank you for your time, I appreciate it.

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Thank you and thanks for coming to the information session and welcome to Highlands.

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Kit Burton.

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Hello, my name is Kit. We live over around 6,000.

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I've been here about five years. I wanted to start with the question, why should I pay for something

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I don't use? The same question could be asked about any of the lovely parks in our community.

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Maybe to bike paths, a certain section of sidewalk, I don't personally like to walk on.

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We fund these things with taxes because we invest as a community.

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To quote Thomas Jefferson, a small library in every county would do extensive good at

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small expense.

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I believe the library tax that's proposed follows that same principle.

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For the annual cost that I could spend to Amazon.com for one hardcover book, I could instead

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get access to the amazing resources and collection here. I would much rather keep my investment

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right here where it belongs, close to home, or suspending it to a big corporation in Seattle.

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Does this tax subsidize the use for some people more than others? Yes, it does. But for

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much of my life, I have been those some people, especially when I was a young father. I could

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never have afforded all of the children's books, nor could I have stored them in my small

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Department, nor would my wife have stayed married to me if she couldn't have a place to take

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our young kids and escape. The library was that place for us in many of the cities we've lived.

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Finally, why might I as a grown-up want to be exposed to the ideas and resources in the library

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when I could just get all the information I need from social media? I believe that question

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answers itself. Please support this increased funding for our library. Thanks.

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Thank you so much.

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We've got Sean slaughtering next, and after that we've got Paula Forbes.

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Hi, good afternoon. Good evening.

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Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

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The presentations that have been held were excellent.

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Administrator Wells.

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Director Lee, thank you so much.

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Great job. Really helped understand what this is about.

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As a resident of Highland for 10 years,

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is where that 36% that's never had a library card.

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Lots of reasons, but we personally haven't seen the value.

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What I did learn was there is a need for the employees

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for relief, there's need for increased staffing.

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That's pretty clear that an increase is needed for them.

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I would ask so much earlier, do we really need to pay for the rest?

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Do we really need to continue with Libby?

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Libby sounds like something that was paid for from the pandemic

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and we're trying to hold on to it.

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I'll ask, do we really need something like that

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or can we help the staff out with the funding

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and labor needs served there.

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So that's all I have.

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Thank you for your time.

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Perfect.

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Thank you.

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Paula Forbes, after that, we have Wayne Tanaka.

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So happy to see you.

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And then Kevin Tam.

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Hi,

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welcome.

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Thank you.

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My name is Paula Forbes.

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Have you lived here long enough to remember taking children

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to the monthly book mobile?

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Do you remember checking out books

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from the few shelves reserved for our city at the Mountain Ridge Jr. High.

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Do you remember paying an annual fee that was much more than $25 to a year to have access to the

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American Fourth Library?

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Remember how grateful we were to the Y City Council members who knew

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that the purpose of taxes is to benefit the greater community and made it so we had a small

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library in their lay-in-our-city building. And now I, my children and my grand children who

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came,

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get to have access to the programs that the library offers. We get online books through

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Libby and all the books in our library and all the books in the American pork library and Pleasant

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grow lives there each through the tip-knocker library consortium and it isn't so helpful to have

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those books delivered here and not have to drive everywhere to get them. As a recently

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retired school teacher and a literacy specialist, I recognize the important strong literacy

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skills on an individual and on the community. Also as a retired school teacher, I recognize

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a value of careful money management. I do not buy books on Amazon or anywhere else unless I

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can't get that book to the library. If that is the case, I buy youth books. I cannot afford to

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subscribe to Audible. I use the library. If people would check out only one book instead of buying

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that book that would nearly cover this small increase for the

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insect, that covers the entire household.

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I urge you to vote yes, on this low cost, high impact increase the

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benefits a large number of people in our city and people of all ages.

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We come so far in our access to library benefits in our beloved city of

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and thank you. Thank you so much. And thank you to any kids who came. That is quite ambitious to bring kids, so thanks to the kids for being here.

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We've got Wayne Tanaka, after that we've got Kevin Tam and Nicolena Tanner.

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Mr. Tanaka, I haven't seen you around lately. Nice to see you. I know you're working, but it's really nice to see you.

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Thank you. I've been a supporter of the library for about 12 years now.

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Books on tape and CDs and such, but the real blessing is the availability of the materials that the library provides, that one doesn't have to go out and purchase things.

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A lot of books, as you all know, cost $25, $30, and you can check it out for free here

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at the library because of the way the system is formatted.

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I would like to remind the council that this is not just for the city of Hyland.

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This is a broader exposure for the feeder hills and alpine.

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This is a big deal, a lot of use by a lot of people, and I think the people in

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general realize how important knowledge is. That is the foundation of the

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success of our children, our young adults, because they can read the world in a

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book. Of course, they can go on the internet, but I don't believe it's the same as having

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a book and turning the pages. I think that is much more relevant than looking at the

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Internet.

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In general, thank you very much for all of your support in the past. I think it's important

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that we support our readers, which are, as you can see in the audience, there's some children

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and young adults here. So it is a very broad application of our tax dollars for the community

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and not just for Hive, but Cedar Hills as well and Alpine. Thank you very much for your

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support. Thank you, Kevin. After that is Nicolina and then Brianna.

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Mayor and council city staff, thank you for all that you do. Part of what I wanted to

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share today is a little bit for the rest of the people who haven't been along this

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journey with us. So when I started on the library board five years ago it became

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apparent that we had financial challenges. I've run many teams, I run

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multi-million dollar budgets that work and it became apparent and we talked about this

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for five years and and it was a regular reoccurring thing in our in our board meetings how we're

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going to solve this problem how we're going to do this so I want everybody to know that this

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wasn't a knee jerk reaction this wasn't something that was casually discussed this wasn't something

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that was you know careless this is probably the most prudent and the most responsible thing

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that a city can do. And I think that's really important to say, you know, there are a lot

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of things that have happened recently that we talk about, but these problems started years

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ago. And they started and are lovely and amazing staff bore the brunt of it. One of the great

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things we have in Highland is we have great people who do great things who want to make

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Highland great. And this is where we lift them up. This is where we do the right thing for

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those people and we make sure that they know as a Highland City employee, they are loved

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and they are cared for and so I'm so excited for this. My children have loved the library.

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It has been a gift to my family. This is a gift that I want to give to other families

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and again everybody gets to choose whether they're going to use it or not but it's a gift and

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this is what we do because we're a Highland City and this is the right thing for Highland.

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So, thank you, appreciate your support and appreciate your diligence in being financially

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responsible and doing this modest increase.

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Thanks.

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Thank you so much.

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Nicolena, and then after that we'll have Brianna.

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Thanks for coming.

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Hi, welcome.

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I just want to say, could you please give your name a name?

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Oh, sorry.

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Nicolena Tanner.

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Thank you.

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Sorry.

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I really appreciate all the time and energy you put into our city.

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and how fiscally responsible you are. So thank you. I just had a few ideas and maybe this

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is not the meeting to share them at, but if you are a public entity, then you go to

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the government for funding and I think that's what has been done. But what about like looking

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at whether or not Libby can run ads, or maybe they can have twice a year, like what the

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PDA does, asking for donations, and then you could divide them up according to the usage,

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you know, because I know we share a Libby, so we could just get our percentage.

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Then the Friends of the Library, I think they have a Facebook page, maybe they could advertise

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needs like stools and couches and bean bags and vehicles to transport books or whatever.

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maybe they just say this is a need and we would love any donations for this need so I do know that

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sometimes the public funding through the government is the most reliable way but I really believe in

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the good hearts of the people of Highland and their willingness to support their community so

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So thank

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you so much. I love it when somebody comes with some good ideas and maybe things

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we haven't thought of before or that way. So thank you. I think those are things that

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we will look into.

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Brianna.

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Hi, I'm Brianna Hugh. I am a current parent and teacher in this school district.

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I teach ninth grade English. So obviously I'm a big fan of libraries. I read on average

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about 150 books a year, yeah, I'm a nerd. It's fine. And I would not be able to do that if

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I did not have accessibility or if I did not have access to the library. I read on average 50

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to 60 new young adult novels every year so that I have new resources to tell my students about.

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I do not have the funds as a school teacher to buy 50 to 60 new novels every single year.

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I also don't have the time or the funds to research the new young adult

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novels that are coming out every year. We have a library staff, that's what they

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do. They are really good at that. The other thing is, I don't know if you know

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this, but in Utah right now we are on the decline for early literacy. Our numbers

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are going down for rates of early literacy for the first time in 25 years, and

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And that is because in 2025 an average of one in four adults read a book in the year

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2025.

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So I want you to think about that in terms of what kind of community do we want to have?

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Do we want to have a community that values literacy?

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The only way you do that is by providing those resources.

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That's just a reality. Most families, mine included, could not afford to come, we went

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to the library every week when my kids were little. And every single week my kids would

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walk out with 10 to 15 new books. I could never afford to buy 10 to 15 new books every

437
00:36:56,850 --> 00:37:02,990
single week for my children. That was just not a reality. Additionally, as the chair of the

438
00:37:02,990 --> 00:37:10,350
library board, foundation, we have dedicated a lot of money and time and resources to make

439
00:37:10,350 --> 00:37:16,590
sure that our library has what it needs, but we are very, very fiscal in how we educate

440
00:37:16,590 --> 00:37:17,270
that money.

441
00:37:17,810 --> 00:37:23,090
I want you to understand more than anything else, we need this resource.

442
00:37:23,590 --> 00:37:28,610
Our library has been limping along for at least the last five years.

443
00:37:29,130 --> 00:37:35,750
We need this resource, we need to show the community that we value literacy, we value

444
00:37:35,750 --> 00:37:41,330
community, and we value what it takes to put those things as a priority in our community.

445
00:37:41,770 --> 00:37:42,430
Thank you so much.

446
00:37:43,050 --> 00:37:43,570
Thank you.

447
00:37:44,350 --> 00:37:49,410
Those are all the comment cards I have, so now, if there is anybody else who would like to

448
00:37:49,410 --> 00:37:51,090
speak, yes, please welcome.

449
00:37:51,230 --> 00:37:53,010
Go ahead and state your name for our recorder.

450
00:37:53,010 --> 00:38:02,050
I'm Gailin Henderson, 74 years old. I've lived in Highland for 43 years. I raised my six

451
00:38:02,050 --> 00:38:07,630
sons here. They were on football teams and in music and we went to the library a lot.

452
00:38:08,210 --> 00:38:16,250
But we often had to pay for a card at Lehigh or American Ford. I paid for cards at Orham.

453
00:38:16,770 --> 00:38:21,510
And it's so wonderful. Now that I'm old and I don't want to be driving all over and I have

454
00:38:21,510 --> 00:38:24,190
issues to be able to come right here.

455
00:38:24,710 --> 00:38:30,510
I'm so grateful to Karen, our new librarian for the grant

456
00:38:31,130 --> 00:38:33,070
that she obtained for seniors.

457
00:38:33,850 --> 00:38:37,710
And so if you've been here on Friday morning, some of us seniors have been here,

458
00:38:38,030 --> 00:38:41,050
and some of the comments from the seniors says, we're lonely.

459
00:38:41,730 --> 00:38:44,910
And you wouldn't think, you know, with all the church activities and things

460
00:38:45,390 --> 00:38:50,130
that we have access to, that they're still lonely people,

461
00:38:50,130 --> 00:38:58,730
but one of my friends is a widow in Spanish work and the senior events are the biggest thing

462
00:38:58,730 --> 00:39:06,770
in her life. And so we haven't had that in Highland. And so I really appreciate that we've

463
00:39:06,770 --> 00:39:15,090
had some senior things. I use Libby almost every day of my life. I listen to it to get myself to go

464
00:39:15,090 --> 00:39:23,350
to sleep and to get me entertained when I'm working. So, I really value the services of

465
00:39:23,350 --> 00:39:29,550
the library. As far as being able to get books from other libraries, I want, I want

466
00:39:29,550 --> 00:39:34,610
us to be able to keep that because usually when I put a book into the index, we don't have

467
00:39:34,610 --> 00:39:40,530
it here in Highland. But American Fort Tasset, or Pleasant Grove Tasset, and I don't know if

468
00:39:40,530 --> 00:39:46,310
I can volunteer to go drive around the books, maybe I could, but you know with my vision

469
00:39:46,310 --> 00:39:46,970
it's not going to work.

470
00:39:47,470 --> 00:39:52,550
But I just think that these services are really valuable, so thanks so much for considering

471
00:39:52,550 --> 00:39:52,790
this.

472
00:39:53,430 --> 00:39:53,810
Thank you.

473
00:39:53,930 --> 00:39:54,470
Thanks for coming.

474
00:39:55,230 --> 00:39:55,710
Okay.

475
00:39:55,890 --> 00:39:56,070
Next.

476
00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:05,080
Hi, I'm Andrew Forbes.

477
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:09,520
I've been living in Highland for about four years now, but actually I grew up here in Highland

478
00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:15,020
and it's been a number of evenings over at Dr. Smith's house sometimes, so I just wanted

479
00:40:15,020 --> 00:40:19,300
I wanted to say that as a father with young children that I really enjoy using Libby and

480
00:40:19,300 --> 00:40:21,400
using all the programs that the Highland Library provides.

481
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:26,400
When I moved out of Utah, lived away for about 15 years and being active duty military,

482
00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:30,900
the military actually uses Libby for us to have access like the Marine Corps Commandants

483
00:40:30,900 --> 00:40:31,980
reading lists and stuff like that.

484
00:40:32,140 --> 00:40:33,260
So it's really nice to move back here.

485
00:40:33,300 --> 00:40:34,220
It's still of access to that.

486
00:40:34,620 --> 00:40:36,180
It's just a very valuable research that I think.

487
00:40:36,180 --> 00:40:38,580
And I think libraries make it community stronger and better.

488
00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:42,240
So I know I'm just one small data point, but that's just one of the voice my opinion that

489
00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:47,020
But I'm in support of supporting, I'm in support of funding the library and of this small

490
00:40:47,020 --> 00:40:51,020
increase because it's a much more from a selfish perspective, much more affordable option

491
00:40:51,020 --> 00:40:54,540
than having a subscription to Audible and Kindle Unlimited.

492
00:40:55,220 --> 00:40:59,700
But it's also a really nice improvement for the community I think with all the resources

493
00:40:59,700 --> 00:41:00,760
and activities it provides.

494
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:01,660
So thank you.

495
00:41:02,340 --> 00:41:02,880
Thank you.

496
00:41:06,170 --> 00:41:07,050
Hi, welcome.

497
00:41:08,250 --> 00:41:09,630
Could you introduce yourself?

498
00:41:10,330 --> 00:41:14,950
My name is Hannah Bunker and I'm actually the courier that brings the books from

499
00:41:14,950 --> 00:41:21,950
American fork to Highland and the Pleasant Grove on Mondays and Thursdays, and while I

500
00:41:21,950 --> 00:41:29,570
am a A.S. resident, I'm really worried about how slippery slope this tax can start out to

501
00:41:29,570 --> 00:41:36,110
be. I love this library, especially with Karen involved. Karen's done wonderful and she's

502
00:41:36,110 --> 00:41:45,530
been handed a very hard deck against her. But once we start taxing on this, how slippery

503
00:41:45,530 --> 00:41:53,650
of a slope is the library going to keep just asking for things that maybe the TLC isn't

504
00:41:53,650 --> 00:41:59,630
in our budget right now, and we can work towards it again. I love the library. I work at a library.

505
00:41:59,630 --> 00:42:06,110
I'm primary teacher, Sunday school teacher, okay, I am all for reading and for the kids reading, but

506
00:42:06,790 --> 00:42:13,870
I think that we need to evaluate what is within our city's budget and that we can work up to it.

507
00:42:13,870 --> 00:42:17,630
It is not a right now or never decision. Thank you.

508
00:42:18,310 --> 00:42:21,310
Thank you so much for coming and thank you for your perspective.

509
00:42:21,490 --> 00:42:25,450
It's much appreciated. Other comments? Hi, welcome.

510
00:42:28,550 --> 00:42:35,710
Good evening my name is Bruce Smith, resident of Highland for 10 years, and nothing gets the

511
00:42:35,710 --> 00:42:39,810
public out to the council meeting and the topic of a tax increase.

512
00:42:41,290 --> 00:42:47,530
So it has the potential of devolving it to an emotional issue, who's for the library

513
00:42:47,530 --> 00:42:48,470
and who's against it.

514
00:42:48,570 --> 00:42:53,850
I think almost everyone here is for the library, but how are we for the library?

515
00:42:55,650 --> 00:43:00,730
I'm a public school substitute teacher, don't have the credentials of the young lady that

516
00:43:00,730 --> 00:43:03,670
preceded me, but I feel like I'm fairly in tune.

517
00:43:04,250 --> 00:43:10,170
And I come from the library industry, from the biggest in America to the smallest

518
00:43:10,170 --> 00:43:11,090
like here in Highland.

519
00:43:11,710 --> 00:43:13,130
I think I know what I'm talking about.

520
00:43:14,730 --> 00:43:19,410
The concept, again, is not who's for the library or who's against it.

521
00:43:19,410 --> 00:43:26,110
It's the concept of funding the library because if this tax increase doesn't happen, the

522
00:43:26,110 --> 00:43:27,510
library is not going to go away.

523
00:43:28,170 --> 00:43:32,010
Those people that have expressed their love for the library here, you're going to have

524
00:43:32,010 --> 00:43:32,730
your library.

525
00:43:33,870 --> 00:43:39,870
Regrettably, that little 2% sliver of that pie that Aaron showed is still part of the whole,

526
00:43:40,430 --> 00:43:42,310
is still part of the tax increase.

527
00:43:43,010 --> 00:43:44,330
You can't get away from it.

528
00:43:44,330 --> 00:43:50,150
Even a smidgen like a library book a year is going to come out of someone's pocket.

529
00:43:51,070 --> 00:43:58,530
My point is, in principle, not the dollar amount of another tax increase, no matter how

530
00:43:58,530 --> 00:44:01,950
small, no matter how small.

531
00:44:03,850 --> 00:44:11,410
It means simply that the library in Highland just might have to tighten its belt a little

532
00:44:11,410 --> 00:44:17,790
bit more. Just like I have to tighten my belt with the rest of the poop in this audience

533
00:44:18,170 --> 00:44:24,610
who are getting whacked on price increases in any number of ways. I do have a concern.

534
00:44:24,810 --> 00:44:28,950
The newsletter that just came out with our water bill talked about the City Council

535
00:44:28,950 --> 00:44:34,530
considering this. Having been to other council meetings and board meetings, such as our

536
00:44:34,530 --> 00:44:39,870
Highland School Board last fall, they didn't come to hear the public. They simply came

537
00:44:39,870 --> 00:44:43,250
with plugs in their ears because their minds were already made up.

538
00:44:43,970 --> 00:44:49,810
I have a fear based upon the very good sales pitch that we've been given that the minds

539
00:44:49,810 --> 00:44:51,130
have already been made up here.

540
00:44:52,010 --> 00:44:57,030
One last question, you said to write in the manual answer, please tell me and others who

541
00:44:57,030 --> 00:44:59,970
feel like me. What is the catastrophe that...

542
00:45:00,140 --> 00:45:13,280
So before the city of Highland, if this tax increase doesn't happen, thank you. Hey, excuse me, sir. Are you a veteran? Thank you for your service. And thanks for being here. Thank you.

543
00:45:17,820 --> 00:45:31,680
Hi, welcome. Thank you. My name is Vicki Sarvantes. I'm using Sarvantes because that was my maiden name, and he's a great author, a lover of the word.

544
00:45:34,420 --> 00:45:36,740
I agree with the gentleman that just was up here.

545
00:45:36,740 --> 00:45:37,740
I love the library.

546
00:45:38,540 --> 00:45:41,400
I love all the services that it provides.

547
00:45:42,500 --> 00:45:46,440
But one of the things that I think needs to be looked at

548
00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:52,860
is increased taxes should be, we should focus

549
00:45:52,860 --> 00:45:55,840
and revenue that we're letting slip through our hands.

550
00:45:56,880 --> 00:46:00,620
There's a lot of land that has been encroached here in Highland.

551
00:46:01,780 --> 00:46:03,300
Have people been penalized?

552
00:46:03,980 --> 00:46:10,400
haven't had they been taxed. That's money and revenue that could have bought a lot of books for

553
00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:20,380
Highland. Yet sometimes we let those funds slip away. What is the city's council doing? Did you do

554
00:46:20,380 --> 00:46:26,360
your homework and do diligence? I know you looked at the tax increase but I know for a fact for a

555
00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:31,860
little time that I've been here that there are a lot of people that are encroaching land in this city

556
00:46:31,860 --> 00:46:37,640
And that I'm not paying taxes on it, where others of us have been paying taxes for it.

557
00:46:38,780 --> 00:46:43,560
If you've you last week's meeting, I think that issue came up.

558
00:46:44,200 --> 00:46:49,560
And I know that when you were passing mayor bills, when you were passing and you spent

559
00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:51,620
over a million dollars, people were laughing.

560
00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:53,080
But you know what?

561
00:46:53,240 --> 00:47:00,520
Are we doing our due diligence and are we awarding taxes and money to the bidders that are the

562
00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:06,600
most cost effective or are we just giving money away. So I think we have to do a little

563
00:47:06,600 --> 00:47:12,220
bit more due diligence and do a little bit more homework before we start doling money

564
00:47:12,220 --> 00:47:17,860
and make sure that we're funding the right services for the citizens of Highland. Thank

565
00:47:17,860 --> 00:47:25,440
you. Thank you and thank you for the question and the perspective. Yes, come on up.

566
00:47:30,710 --> 00:47:31,290
I have

567
00:47:31,290 --> 00:47:38,670
I'm sorry. Hi, my name is Ray Forbes and I just want to say I don't have to pay taxes

568
00:47:38,670 --> 00:47:45,630
yet but I read a lot and I don't I go to the library and sometimes I'll check out some

569
00:47:45,630 --> 00:47:51,630
books but sometimes the libraries don't have all the books and I read a lot on Libby and

570
00:47:51,630 --> 00:48:00,570
if we increase the tax or whatever Libby will have more books and have to have less limitations

571
00:48:00,570 --> 00:48:03,950
and then I know some of the books that I have,

572
00:48:04,130 --> 00:48:05,870
it's like an eight month wait list

573
00:48:05,870 --> 00:48:08,710
for, cause everyone's like, we all want these books

574
00:48:08,710 --> 00:48:10,230
and there's only like two copies

575
00:48:10,230 --> 00:48:13,810
that we have like 32 people for each copy

576
00:48:13,810 --> 00:48:19,110
and if we have more money available for the library

577
00:48:19,570 --> 00:48:20,830
and then also for Libby,

578
00:48:21,450 --> 00:48:23,550
then more people can get these books quicker.

579
00:48:24,950 --> 00:48:25,430
Thank you.

580
00:48:25,950 --> 00:48:26,810
Thank you.

581
00:48:27,210 --> 00:48:28,290
Feel like at school.

582
00:48:31,060 --> 00:48:43,060
Scarlet Bushman, Highland resident. I just want to say this is really cool. I was just sitting here thinking being a naturalized US citizen.

583
00:48:43,540 --> 00:48:53,620
I didn't have. I wasn't born in this country and the fact that you are sitting there in a position of power and yet you're listening to people and you're not just making these decisions.

584
00:48:54,220 --> 00:49:01,380
It's actually really amazing, so I do think you're being physical, physically, whatever

585
00:49:01,380 --> 00:49:02,060
responsible.

586
00:49:02,340 --> 00:49:07,380
I think you are looking at everything, and I appreciate that, and that's one of the

587
00:49:07,380 --> 00:49:11,400
beautiful things in this country is that you don't just make these decisions, you actually

588
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:16,040
listen to residents, and honestly, I don't think we can stop taxes.

589
00:49:16,700 --> 00:49:20,900
I think they're going to come our way whether we do this for the library or not, we're going

590
00:49:20,900 --> 00:49:24,840
to have to pay more taxes, whether it's for Highland or Utah or the US.

591
00:49:25,840 --> 00:49:32,980
And so for me and my family, if we have to pay taxes, I would rather have it go to a place

592
00:49:32,980 --> 00:49:38,940
where kids can be safe where moms can get a little bit of mental break during the week,

593
00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:48,750
where I as a single, or not single, empty nester, which feels like, can come and meet people

594
00:49:48,750 --> 00:49:55,510
and still have like adult conversations and have a safe place in our community.

595
00:49:55,870 --> 00:50:02,030
So I just, I don't think we can get away from taxes and I just think if that's the case

596
00:50:02,030 --> 00:50:05,390
then I would rather support the library with mine. Thank you.

597
00:50:05,830 --> 00:50:06,550
Thank you.

598
00:50:06,990 --> 00:50:07,430
Hi,

599
00:50:14,220 --> 00:50:15,400
welcome. Let us know your name, please.

600
00:50:15,760 --> 00:50:17,320
I need a patent. Thank you.

601
00:50:17,940 --> 00:50:23,120
My husband and I have been here for 28 and a half years and it's been some major changes.

602
00:50:23,120 --> 00:50:25,560
And you're right, we are not going to get away from taxes.

603
00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:28,180
I do have a couple of questions.

604
00:50:28,500 --> 00:50:31,960
I am wondering in the exploration of what you guys have done,

605
00:50:32,120 --> 00:50:34,400
which we do appreciate the information.

606
00:50:36,180 --> 00:50:41,900
When at what point, if ever, do we get to vote on this sort of decision?

607
00:50:42,240 --> 00:50:47,620
If we're the one funding this, why don't we have a say in this

608
00:50:47,620 --> 00:50:49,160
and not just leave it up to you?

609
00:50:50,100 --> 00:50:51,800
And you don't have to answer right now.

610
00:50:51,800 --> 00:50:53,460
Now that's fine, it's a bit of a rhetorical.

611
00:50:53,640 --> 00:51:01,520
I am curious too with the numbers of attending extra activities, 8,000 kids, that's the

612
00:51:01,520 --> 00:51:06,840
total of the kids in the city of Highland, about 8,200 kids under the age of 18.

613
00:51:07,580 --> 00:51:11,980
So every child attended or one child many, many times.

614
00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:14,020
I'm unclear on that.

615
00:51:14,780 --> 00:51:21,340
And 209 people a day come to the library, I would not have expected that.

616
00:51:21,340 --> 00:51:26,280
So, what are they doing and what is this influx of additional money going to do just for

617
00:51:26,280 --> 00:51:28,780
those two or nine little and all the ones who don't?

618
00:51:29,300 --> 00:51:36,040
So, I'm just trying to understand that because when money is suggested for any kind of

619
00:51:36,040 --> 00:51:42,980
an increase, usually a marketing plan, a budget plan is designed to see what that additional

620
00:51:42,980 --> 00:51:47,240
dollar is going to do for the people paying it and I'm unclear on that.

621
00:51:48,220 --> 00:51:55,900
The other part of my concern is this is 2%, it sounds small, I'll agree with 2%, but

622
00:51:56,420 --> 00:52:01,540
the next debate you guys are up for is a 36% increase in our public safety if I understand

623
00:52:01,540 --> 00:52:02,140
correctly.

624
00:52:03,240 --> 00:52:06,980
So where are we going to stop with that?

625
00:52:07,240 --> 00:52:08,240
You're shaking your head no?

626
00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:14,300
23% to 36%, I read that on the website for public safety, for Highland City.

627
00:52:15,660 --> 00:52:21,640
We're happy if you want to send us an email after we're happy, maybe I'm missing a few

628
00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:22,120
information.

629
00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:27,100
So this is the only tax crease y'all are voting on right now for the city of Highland.

630
00:52:28,700 --> 00:52:31,900
Okay, well that's good because 2% is better than 38.

631
00:52:32,820 --> 00:52:39,280
I am just unsure that the information that has been presented while appearing to be very

632
00:52:39,280 --> 00:52:44,280
thorough hasn't been fully explored because all of us who are going to pay may not be

633
00:52:44,280 --> 00:52:49,120
receive what it's going to do for us. I took my kids to the library. They were the school

634
00:52:49,120 --> 00:52:55,960
libraries. I paid 73% of my taxes are going to Alpine School District and they all have a library.

635
00:52:56,740 --> 00:53:01,540
So I'm trying to understand what this one is doing that that one doesn't when we're already paying for

636
00:53:01,540 --> 00:53:07,780
that one. So thanks Mark. Listen to my ram. No thank you. And it's just so everybody knows you are

637
00:53:07,780 --> 00:53:12,440
welcome to email us all this city council generally or I'm happy to take a personal phone call from

638
00:53:12,440 --> 00:53:14,800
from anybody who still has questions after this meeting.

639
00:53:15,340 --> 00:53:17,480
And I'm sure the other council member are as well.

640
00:53:18,100 --> 00:53:20,040
Yes, hi, welcome.

641
00:53:20,720 --> 00:53:20,880
Hi.

642
00:53:21,300 --> 00:53:22,280
I'm Katie Davidson.

643
00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:23,720
I live in Highland.

644
00:53:24,400 --> 00:53:28,560
And 20 years ago, I was with my kids every week at the library.

645
00:53:28,940 --> 00:53:30,980
And we loved the summer reading programs.

646
00:53:31,220 --> 00:53:32,100
We raced around.

647
00:53:32,500 --> 00:53:34,180
That's where right there every summer,

648
00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:37,480
we went to the, when the businesses had their open houses,

649
00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:38,220
we were here.

650
00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:39,000
We did everything.

651
00:53:39,340 --> 00:53:41,920
And it was a huge part of our lives, and we loved it.

652
00:53:41,920 --> 00:53:51,120
And then we had a spell for a while where my kids grew up and they did use the public libraries and things like that, but I'm back at a stage where I'm here again.

653
00:53:51,620 --> 00:54:01,480
And just a question of what they do here, I'm here multiple times a week with my three-year-old who doesn't have any kids up in my neighborhood to play with.

654
00:54:02,080 --> 00:54:06,460
And so we come here for story time, and it is her favorite thing on the planet.

655
00:54:06,460 --> 00:54:10,100
And it's amazing. It's like a mini preschool for these kids.

656
00:54:10,760 --> 00:54:15,940
And I see grandparents and I see, I've seen some dads that,

657
00:54:15,940 --> 00:54:19,080
that new moms have had babies and I've seen all sorts of people.

658
00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:22,380
And in this room right here, there are like 20 people minimum.

659
00:54:22,940 --> 00:54:25,200
It seems like I'm sure counts are off on other days.

660
00:54:25,460 --> 00:54:30,020
And then I go into that room and it is chaos in there for at least an hour

661
00:54:30,020 --> 00:54:35,540
with these sweet librarians that try so hard with minimal staff to help everyone.

662
00:54:35,540 --> 00:54:41,720
because they are so excited to get Yodo cards and videos and adventure discovery

663
00:54:41,720 --> 00:54:46,460
packets. And I had no idea all of the things that were available until I needed

664
00:54:46,460 --> 00:54:52,320
them again. I have been so amazed to see all that they offer and overwhelmed

665
00:54:52,320 --> 00:54:57,040
so many times. So I am so grateful for all they do. I feel like we're in a time

666
00:54:57,040 --> 00:55:01,460
when the economy's going up and Costco used to be $100 trip and it's a two to

667
00:55:01,460 --> 00:55:06,720
$300 trip now and I can't take my kids out to the movies or to eat for

668
00:55:06,720 --> 00:55:11,940
$100 anymore and I've heard families telling me it's time to choose. We can't do

669
00:55:11,940 --> 00:55:16,640
singing and dancing anymore. We can't do this and that anymore and so it's time to

670
00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:21,760
choose and if I have to choose the library is going to be a big part of my

671
00:55:21,760 --> 00:55:25,900
family's life and I hope it helps others. So even though it may not help our

672
00:55:25,900 --> 00:55:29,620
particular stage if you're not using it, I know the overall benefits are huge

673
00:55:29,620 --> 00:55:35,200
and I'm so grateful what they really need is another person. I think donations are such a great idea

674
00:55:35,200 --> 00:55:41,660
but I've been in there during those crazy hours and they need another staff member in there and I'm so grateful for them

675
00:55:41,660 --> 00:55:47,160
and all that they do. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for taking the time to come. Hi, welcome.

676
00:55:50,700 --> 00:55:52,060
My name is Chris Galley.

677
00:55:52,800 --> 00:56:00,720
I've lived here for 40 years. I was here when we had the library in the junior high because we didn't have a library and I was so glad

678
00:56:00,720 --> 00:56:07,680
to see the library here. I am standing up for the older people. For a while we had an

679
00:56:07,680 --> 00:56:13,080
end cap of large print books and I came in one day and they weren't there and I asked

680
00:56:13,080 --> 00:56:17,440
them, they said, well, we can't afford a neighbor on loan. We've put it in with the regular

681
00:56:17,440 --> 00:56:26,180
books and I can't find them. So we don't have a large print book area. Why not? Every that

682
00:56:26,180 --> 00:56:32,280
cheap. Okay. If Highland City can build a playground and a pickleball court, we

683
00:56:32,280 --> 00:56:38,420
can use my taxes for adequately supplying the library. I go to the library

684
00:56:38,420 --> 00:56:43,140
at all times of the day and it's always busy. I hope someday that we'll have a

685
00:56:43,140 --> 00:56:49,300
library to stand alone. And I'm sorry, but I own this agent and there's a lot of

686
00:56:49,300 --> 00:56:53,120
us older people that need those large print books and there's a lot of people

687
00:56:53,120 --> 00:56:57,860
use it and I just want to know, want you to know that I want my taxes to go to the library.

688
00:56:58,580 --> 00:57:04,600
Thank you. Thanks so much. Hi, welcome. Hi, my name is Rachel Fernsworth and I am a member

689
00:57:04,600 --> 00:57:11,080
of the Highland City Library Board. I think it's so wonderful that we have so many people from our

690
00:57:11,080 --> 00:57:18,300
community here and engaging in city politics because that is so cool. We have the library board meeting

691
00:57:18,300 --> 00:57:23,320
every month and while it is open to the public in my time on the library board in the last four

692
00:57:23,320 --> 00:57:29,180
years I think we have had exactly three visitors to which were our kids and a third was observing for

693
00:57:29,180 --> 00:57:34,800
a class at UVU. So something I know the council is well aware of this but I don't think the general

694
00:57:34,800 --> 00:57:41,980
public realizes just how much work has gone into this as well as just the fiscal responsibility that

695
00:57:41,980 --> 00:57:46,580
has gone into it. In the entire four years I've been on the library board this has been a topic of

696
00:57:46,580 --> 00:57:48,800
discussion every single month, the budget.

697
00:57:49,340 --> 00:57:50,740
How can we cut things?

698
00:57:51,040 --> 00:57:52,040
How can we tighten it?

699
00:57:52,080 --> 00:57:53,880
How can we maximize every dollar?

700
00:57:54,760 --> 00:57:56,900
When we look at the labor needs,

701
00:57:57,140 --> 00:57:59,640
that's really our biggest portion of the budget.

702
00:58:00,200 --> 00:58:03,700
Our library staff starts at a wage that's lower

703
00:58:03,700 --> 00:58:06,140
than my son makes, my 17 year old son makes

704
00:58:06,140 --> 00:58:06,880
at slim chickens.

705
00:58:08,380 --> 00:58:10,100
They are underpaid.

706
00:58:10,440 --> 00:58:13,440
We have never once given a merit based increase

707
00:58:13,440 --> 00:58:21,660
a library employee in 18 years. It's simply not in the budget. When we look at

708
00:58:21,660 --> 00:58:26,140
workload, it's largely based on circulation. We have a very similar

709
00:58:26,140 --> 00:58:33,340
circulation to the present growth library. However, they have a total of 35 staff

710
00:58:33,340 --> 00:58:39,280
members. We have 12. In addition, another thing that kind of has been

711
00:58:39,280 --> 00:58:43,880
glossed over a little bit that I think the public might find really informative is that

712
00:58:43,880 --> 00:58:47,520
previously there was something called the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

713
00:58:47,800 --> 00:58:50,020
This was a federal department.

714
00:58:50,440 --> 00:58:52,200
It was shut down last year.

715
00:58:52,320 --> 00:58:57,460
This department was largely responsible for funding Libby across the states, as well as things

716
00:58:57,460 --> 00:58:59,480
like book mobiles and books for the blind.

717
00:59:00,120 --> 00:59:03,700
So they passed the cost of that onto the state.

718
00:59:03,700 --> 00:59:09,880
Oh, they also cover all of our grant money for technology upgrades every year.

719
00:59:10,420 --> 00:59:11,960
We will no longer get that money.

720
00:59:12,400 --> 00:59:16,820
The state has decided not to dip into their budget and they passed it down to the cities.

721
00:59:17,240 --> 00:59:23,000
So every library across Utah and across the nation is facing this exact same crisis.

722
00:59:23,680 --> 00:59:28,320
Libby is an extremely popular service, extremely popular.

723
00:59:28,320 --> 00:59:35,380
The cost of WIVI is substantial because of the monopoly that publishers have on books.

724
00:59:35,780 --> 00:59:41,420
They used to allow us to just pay a large fee and then we own the book forever and can rent it as many times

725
00:59:41,420 --> 00:59:44,540
and now they do it per rental, which is absurd.

726
00:59:44,680 --> 00:59:48,800
But that's something that we would normally have the federal government to fight for for.

727
00:59:49,420 --> 00:59:52,400
So these are just the realities that we've faced.

728
00:59:52,660 --> 00:59:57,520
When we talk about fiscal responsibility, I tell you right now there is no more

729
00:59:57,520 --> 00:59:59,980
responsible, and

730
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:06,520
Entity and city government. When it then when it comes to a librarian, they are absolutely magical. My

731
01:00:06,520 --> 01:00:09,000
variants are magical with money. Thank you.

732
01:00:16,440 --> 01:00:19,060
Hi there. Welcome. Thanks for coming. My name is Lauren

733
01:00:19,060 --> 01:00:25,960
Banger. I've married into a family that has been here for 34 years and we've lived in Highland

734
01:00:25,960 --> 01:00:30,820
multiple times. It's such a wonderful city. I really appreciate you guys. There's been a couple of times

735
01:00:30,820 --> 01:00:36,940
where I've actually reached out to you about crosswalks or stopways that have been dangerous

736
01:00:36,940 --> 01:00:42,160
and you guys have been incredibly prompt to respond, so I really appreciate it.

737
01:00:42,520 --> 01:00:43,840
Also your schools are incredible.

738
01:00:44,280 --> 01:00:49,720
You have Highland School which is number one in Utah and then in Ridge Line up in Highland

739
01:00:49,720 --> 01:00:54,760
you guys had the Utah principal of the year and he went to DC this past year.

740
01:00:55,340 --> 01:00:59,640
Highland is an incredible city and we've been so blessed to have lived here.

741
01:01:00,400 --> 01:01:07,340
Our kids have used the school library, they can use it, and take one book home a week

742
01:01:08,000 --> 01:01:14,340
starting at grades, at second grade, but before that they can go to the library and keep

743
01:01:14,340 --> 01:01:15,260
a book at school.

744
01:01:15,820 --> 01:01:23,860
Other than that, we are so grateful to have used the toddler areas like meeting up with

745
01:01:23,860 --> 01:01:29,800
mother mothers and story time in those programs and our kids will come and check out many

746
01:01:29,800 --> 01:01:34,360
books and unfortunately sometimes we have to take those books back together before bringing

747
01:01:34,360 --> 01:01:40,900
them back and that's part of this budget and it is something that we obviously do never want

748
01:01:40,900 --> 01:01:47,600
to happen but I would much rather my kids be reading books than spending time on screens

749
01:01:47,600 --> 01:01:51,380
and I'd read much, but I just, I'm so grateful.

750
01:01:51,720 --> 01:01:54,560
I actually told my son that it wouldn't take this long

751
01:01:54,560 --> 01:01:56,080
and he gave me this look and I said,

752
01:01:56,240 --> 01:01:57,540
I'll give you a dollar afterwards

753
01:01:57,540 --> 01:01:59,820
and he said, how would you just take me over

754
01:01:59,820 --> 01:02:01,240
and get me a book after this?

755
01:02:02,280 --> 01:02:05,420
This library is really, really special to kids,

756
01:02:05,700 --> 01:02:08,240
to families, to the growing generation

757
01:02:08,240 --> 01:02:11,140
and I want it to see it thrive.

758
01:02:11,820 --> 01:02:12,320
Thank you.

759
01:02:12,780 --> 01:02:13,420
Thank you.

760
01:02:17,670 --> 01:02:18,330
Name please.

761
01:02:18,330 --> 01:02:26,950
Wesley Warren. I'm also on the library board with Rachel. She's pretty great. I

762
01:02:26,950 --> 01:02:33,150
second large print books. I'm raging against needing glasses so we would both

763
01:02:33,150 --> 01:02:39,370
appreciate that a lot. For five and a half months I have secretly and quietly been

764
01:02:39,370 --> 01:02:44,250
keeping track on the note on my phone with every interaction I've had with

765
01:02:44,250 --> 01:02:46,970
of Highland residents regarding the library tax.

766
01:02:47,710 --> 01:02:49,370
It's been mostly a project I've been doing

767
01:02:49,370 --> 01:02:50,310
for personal use.

768
01:02:52,610 --> 01:02:54,690
I'm not going to champion idea

769
01:02:54,690 --> 01:02:58,530
that I believe is not supported and popular in the city.

770
01:02:59,990 --> 01:03:03,770
I just won't, I think the paramount to everything

771
01:03:03,770 --> 01:03:06,470
is do the residents, this is something the residents want.

772
01:03:06,610 --> 01:03:07,490
This is something the residents want,

773
01:03:07,570 --> 01:03:08,590
their tax wanting to go towards.

774
01:03:09,350 --> 01:03:12,650
I did the same thing with the Highland Family Park.

775
01:03:12,650 --> 01:03:14,450
I did the same thing with the alcohol issue.

776
01:03:15,230 --> 01:03:18,250
I need to make sure I feel bulletproof when it comes to the residents.

777
01:03:19,530 --> 01:03:22,030
And so for five and a half months I've been keeping track.

778
01:03:23,790 --> 01:03:27,530
61% of my tally, I have first and last names for.

779
01:03:28,970 --> 01:03:31,170
And of course this is anecdotal.

780
01:03:32,530 --> 01:03:37,790
But I've spoken with 649 residents who explicitly support this library tax.

781
01:03:38,650 --> 01:03:40,970
And I've spoken with 46 residents who don't support it.

782
01:03:40,970 --> 01:03:47,750
and everyone except for one has been a really good conversation and I've learned a lot.

783
01:03:52,040 --> 01:04:01,780
It's been touched on, but by every metric, Highlands Library outperforms every other library in our area.

784
01:04:02,440 --> 01:04:07,920
When you look at circulation, when you look at program attendance, when you look at daily visits,

785
01:04:07,920 --> 01:04:15,140
This is when you look at library card adoption rates, we're outperforming all libraries in

786
01:04:15,140 --> 01:04:23,580
our area, and yet every other library is more robustly and appropriately staffed, and

787
01:04:23,580 --> 01:04:25,960
they're better funded, and they're financially healthier.

788
01:04:29,160 --> 01:04:34,740
Which library model is the correct one, and which one is the broken one?

789
01:04:35,980 --> 01:04:43,220
The way that literally every other library does things, or is it our small library?

790
01:04:44,220 --> 01:04:48,980
Is every other library grossly inefficient and negligently overfunded?

791
01:04:49,700 --> 01:04:52,320
And we're actually funded and staffed appropriately?

792
01:04:53,300 --> 01:04:57,540
Or is every other library staffed and funded correctly?

793
01:04:58,200 --> 01:05:01,740
And we're the ones that maybe need to do a little adjusting.

794
01:05:04,250 --> 01:05:07,090
It's also been mentioned that we so

795
01:05:09,780 --> 01:05:11,940
much from our library staff five

796
01:05:20,580 --> 01:05:25,220
seconds I did some job shadowing and you would be shocked by how much they do.

797
01:05:25,460 --> 01:05:33,020
We really need that extra full-time employee. So thank you. I'm glad I don't have to go any further.

798
01:05:33,660 --> 01:05:34,380
Thank you.

799
01:05:34,520 --> 01:05:35,120
Appreciate it.

800
01:05:35,200 --> 01:05:35,560
Thanks.

801
01:05:36,000 --> 01:05:36,440
Hi.

802
01:05:41,140 --> 01:05:42,040
Thank you for coming tonight.

803
01:05:42,520 --> 01:05:44,100
Hi. My name is Megan Olson.

804
01:05:45,700 --> 01:05:50,800
and I've lived in Highland for about seven years and for that entire time the library

805
01:05:50,800 --> 01:05:53,160
has been like a second home to myself and my siblings.

806
01:05:55,600 --> 01:06:01,080
We check out probably between Libby and the physical books about 200 books a year between

807
01:06:01,080 --> 01:06:12,780
four of us and the $28 tax increase would cover about two paperback books so for us it would

808
01:06:12,780 --> 01:06:20,280
be very worth it. My littlest brother is in elementary school and he has not been

809
01:06:20,280 --> 01:06:25,760
allowed at his school library to check out books that the school librarian decides

810
01:06:25,760 --> 01:06:30,660
are above his reading level even though he's a pretty high level reader so he's had to

811
01:06:30,660 --> 01:06:34,680
come to the Highland library to check out the books that he actually wants to read.

812
01:06:36,760 --> 01:06:40,740
My family goes to a lot of the social programs.

813
01:06:42,140 --> 01:06:47,540
It's just been probably the best thing that the city has for us.

814
01:06:49,540 --> 01:06:57,260
And I don't want to live in a city that doesn't value the curiosity and the community that the library fosters.

815
01:06:58,000 --> 01:06:58,540
That's all.

816
01:06:59,140 --> 01:06:59,680
Thank you.

817
01:07:05,200 --> 01:07:10,660
Hi, come on up and if you want to mind introducing yourself, I'm pulling that microphone down so I can hear you. Thanks.

818
01:07:11,800 --> 01:07:15,140
My name is Salisha Mills and I've lived in the community for over 20 years.

819
01:07:16,040 --> 01:07:21,060
And my kids are avid readers and love the library. My problem with the tax increase is the percentage.

820
01:07:22,700 --> 01:07:26,760
I agree that you have to increase costs because cost of everything is going up.

821
01:07:26,980 --> 01:07:30,900
But a 50% increase seems a little bit steep at a time when everything is going up.

822
01:07:30,900 --> 01:07:32,440
and it's non-essential service.

823
01:07:33,160 --> 01:07:36,480
It's very much enjoyed service but not essential.

824
01:07:36,800 --> 01:07:39,520
My other problem is my nieces and nephews

825
01:07:39,520 --> 01:07:41,560
have been exposed to pornography and other material

826
01:07:41,560 --> 01:07:42,240
that they don't like.

827
01:07:43,000 --> 01:07:44,720
And I have had to stop coming to the library

828
01:07:44,720 --> 01:07:47,220
because it's too hard for me to patrol all the shelves

829
01:07:47,220 --> 01:07:48,200
and what's put on there.

830
01:07:48,960 --> 01:07:50,840
So if we're going to keep the community library

831
01:07:50,840 --> 01:07:52,840
and we want to uphold some of the values

832
01:07:52,840 --> 01:07:54,120
that many of the residents hold,

833
01:07:54,380 --> 01:07:56,220
I don't mind having the books in the library

834
01:07:56,220 --> 01:07:58,040
but they need to be in a designated section

835
01:07:58,040 --> 01:08:03,700
so that kids are not inadvertently exposed to things that they do not want to see or read.

836
01:08:04,420 --> 01:08:08,340
And it's really hard for parents to keep up with a huge volume of new material out there.

837
01:08:09,000 --> 01:08:16,380
And I know that there are many people in the community who have tried to come and help the community

838
01:08:16,380 --> 01:08:19,980
realize the books that are more harmful, and they would be willing to help

839
01:08:19,980 --> 01:08:24,660
pull those books and pull them out so that they are not inadvertently exposed to other children.

840
01:08:24,660 --> 01:08:31,420
So I think before I want my tax money to go to more to the library they need to take some responsibility and make it a safe place for my children.

841
01:08:32,200 --> 01:08:32,600
Thank you.

842
01:08:33,480 --> 01:08:34,760
Thank you for the perspective.

843
01:08:44,080 --> 01:08:44,320
Anything?

844
01:08:46,120 --> 01:08:47,580
My name is Madeline Olson.

845
01:08:48,780 --> 01:08:53,400
I've lived here for about ten years and I love libraries.

846
01:08:53,720 --> 01:08:54,520
I've always loved to read.

847
01:08:55,680 --> 01:09:02,120
Some of my earliest memories are back when I lived in Florida going to their library and looking through all of the children's books.

848
01:09:04,400 --> 01:09:13,480
And I just want to say that if people don't think that the $28 increase is worth it, then

849
01:09:14,120 --> 01:09:20,600
you know, read two or three books this year because that's about how much $28 will get you.

850
01:09:21,000 --> 01:09:25,000
And it's just going to the library to read that many books.

851
01:09:27,720 --> 01:09:33,160
like that's about the cost of three books. So if you just read three extra books a year

852
01:09:33,160 --> 01:09:37,760
from the library, then I think it would be worth it. Thank you.

853
01:09:38,840 --> 01:09:39,640
Thank you.

854
01:09:46,750 --> 01:09:48,630
Anybody else like to make a comment?

855
01:09:54,020 --> 01:09:54,340
Good evening.

856
01:09:55,120 --> 01:10:02,920
Hi. My name is Will Robertson. It's not relevant that I served in the Army for 30 years

857
01:10:05,220 --> 01:10:14,160
I'm so grateful for a representative form of government and not a democracy that is ruled by the emotions of the mob.

858
01:10:15,080 --> 01:10:19,380
And I'm very grateful that you guys get to make the decision and not us.

859
01:10:21,260 --> 01:10:28,120
I'm a big fan of libraries, especially ours. Books and libraries are something that I owe my entire adult life to.

860
01:10:28,120 --> 01:10:35,700
and I've heard several arguments tonight that the proposed tax increase that I'd like to address some of them directly.

861
01:10:36,460 --> 01:10:47,960
First, the claim that it's only $2.38 a month or about the cost of one hardback book that framing makes a permanent tax increase sound small.

862
01:10:48,680 --> 01:10:54,000
But the real issue is not the monthly amount. It's what that money permanently buys.

863
01:10:54,000 --> 01:11:01,880
This increase is designed to expand permanent staffing and lock in higher ongoing salary and benefit costs.

864
01:11:02,640 --> 01:11:06,400
Once those costs are built into the budget, they almost never come back down.

865
01:11:07,260 --> 01:11:09,900
Governments tend to grow, but they rarely shrink.

866
01:11:11,600 --> 01:11:13,960
Second, I've heard that libraries are important.

867
01:11:14,340 --> 01:11:18,540
That books change lives and that Benjamin Franklin helped establish early American libraries.

868
01:11:19,160 --> 01:11:22,660
So knowledge would not be belonged to only the wealthy.

869
01:11:22,660 --> 01:11:30,900
I agree that libraries matter, shared access to books has real value, but supporting libraries

870
01:11:30,900 --> 01:11:35,560
is not the same as supporting this specific permanent tax increase.

871
01:11:36,300 --> 01:11:37,980
Those are two different arguments.

872
01:11:39,320 --> 01:11:44,860
Third, some have said that they would rather increase funding for the library than for anything

873
01:11:45,470 --> 01:11:48,860
else because an educated sexuality needs libraries.

874
01:11:48,860 --> 01:11:54,740
That is a legitimate value judgment that I would not disagree with, but it still does

875
01:11:54,740 --> 01:12:00,980
not answer the central question, which is does Highland need to permanently expand staffing

876
01:12:00,980 --> 01:12:02,600
costs to keep a strong library?

877
01:12:03,460 --> 01:12:07,880
The data that I've seen circulated recently may actually answer that question.

878
01:12:08,500 --> 01:12:13,100
Highland already checks out more materials per capita than the state median.

879
01:12:13,100 --> 01:12:19,000
It already has a higher early childhood program attendance per capita than the

880
01:12:19,000 --> 01:12:24,440
state median. At the same time it ranks near the bottom in local funding among

881
01:12:24,440 --> 01:12:29,940
Utah library systems. That is not a struggling library. That's an efficient

882
01:12:29,940 --> 01:12:36,700
library delivering strong results with the resources it currently has. Raising taxes

883
01:12:36,700 --> 01:12:41,020
to expand the permanent employee footprint would move us away from a lean model

884
01:12:41,020 --> 01:12:42,800
that has produced those results.

885
01:12:43,300 --> 01:12:45,380
It would create higher fixed costs

886
01:12:45,800 --> 01:12:47,820
that will be difficult to reverse later,

887
01:12:48,140 --> 01:12:50,180
even if demand levels off

888
01:12:50,180 --> 01:12:53,400
or technology reduces some sort of the manual workload.

889
01:12:54,320 --> 01:12:57,920
We can value libraries and still insist on efficiency.

890
01:12:58,600 --> 01:13:00,920
The current numbers show that a strong library

891
01:13:00,920 --> 01:13:03,300
does not require this permanent increase,

892
01:13:03,460 --> 01:13:05,760
and I urge the council to reject the tax increase.

893
01:13:07,040 --> 01:13:09,320
Thank you, and thank you for your service also.

894
01:13:09,320 --> 01:13:10,160
So would

895
01:13:14,030 --> 01:13:15,390
anybody else like to comment?

896
01:13:15,550 --> 01:13:16,530
We would love to hear from you.

897
01:13:31,980 --> 01:13:33,760
I've been here for over 30 years.

898
01:13:34,720 --> 01:13:38,360
And I think my only comment is number one,

899
01:13:39,120 --> 01:13:42,040
a tax increase for whatever reason.

900
01:13:42,620 --> 01:13:45,580
It's a wrong time to do that.

901
01:13:46,920 --> 01:13:51,480
The whole system is not as robust as everybody

902
01:13:52,320 --> 01:13:54,240
tells you in the media that it is.

903
01:13:55,220 --> 01:13:57,520
It's not the right time to raise taxes.

904
01:13:58,280 --> 01:14:01,980
It is the time to use our funding more effectively.

905
01:14:03,300 --> 01:14:08,880
When you look at the park that was built, you could have staffed the library for many

906
01:14:08,880 --> 01:14:09,240
years.

907
01:14:10,500 --> 01:14:16,220
It's not a matter that Highland doesn't have enough money, it's how we spend it.

908
01:14:17,040 --> 01:14:19,220
And the tax increases the wrong thing to do.

909
01:14:21,400 --> 01:14:22,180
Thank you, Mr. Beck.

910
01:14:22,180 --> 01:14:23,040
Anybody

911
01:14:25,760 --> 01:14:29,120
else here in the audience? Have any comments?

912
01:14:37,870 --> 01:14:39,830
Hello, I am Leanne Spencer.

913
01:14:43,050 --> 01:14:45,610
Great time. I

914
01:14:48,580 --> 01:14:54,920
moved to Utah in the 80s and I wasn't ever coming back when I left

915
01:14:56,380 --> 01:14:59,780
because I didn't feel included.

916
01:15:00,300 --> 01:15:13,300
I didn't feel a sense of community. And we came here due to the death of a son and helping

917
01:15:13,300 --> 01:15:21,140
to raise two grandkids with a widowed daughter. And I was so excited to come to Highland.

918
01:15:21,140 --> 01:15:30,640
And I was so surprised when I saw how small the library was, but the one thing that I hear

919
01:15:30,640 --> 01:15:36,800
the most here in Utah is, I don't want big government, I don't want the federal government

920
01:15:36,800 --> 01:15:41,020
determining where my money goes and what I do with it is

921
01:15:43,300 --> 01:15:45,980
exactly where this tax needs

922
01:15:45,980 --> 01:15:54,800
needs to be within this community in order to support the people, all the people, whether

923
01:15:54,800 --> 01:16:00,180
they have multi-million dollar homes or if they are renters in someone's basement.

924
01:16:00,980 --> 01:16:09,420
A library is a great equalizer of all communities and I am so grateful that I came back to watch

925
01:16:09,420 --> 01:16:18,500
this community use its rights as Americans to hear through all of the issues that we've

926
01:16:18,500 --> 01:16:20,560
had in the last six years that I've been here.

927
01:16:21,060 --> 01:16:27,320
So thank you so much for looking into this and hearing everyone's opinions, but I am

928
01:16:27,320 --> 01:16:29,520
for an increase in our taxes.

929
01:16:30,060 --> 01:16:30,400
Thank you.

930
01:16:30,780 --> 01:16:31,340
Thank you.

931
01:16:31,520 --> 01:16:34,800
I'm so sorry about your son and so happy to have you back here in Highland.

932
01:16:38,550 --> 01:16:41,310
Would anybody else, who's in the audience like to comment?

933
01:16:41,310 --> 01:16:43,050
I want to make sure we get everybody.

934
01:16:48,140 --> 01:16:52,060
If there are no other comments, I will turn to Jay.

935
01:16:52,260 --> 01:16:54,380
Jay, do we have anyone who would like to comment?

936
01:16:56,880 --> 01:16:57,840
No one online?

937
01:16:58,740 --> 01:16:59,500
Okay, last call.

938
01:16:59,700 --> 01:17:00,240
Any comments?

939
01:17:01,240 --> 01:17:05,060
If not, we'll go ahead and close our public hearing

940
01:17:05,060 --> 01:17:08,000
and bring it back to our council for discussion.

941
01:17:10,900 --> 01:17:13,540
Okay, Dr. Smith, let's start with you.

942
01:17:16,890 --> 01:17:17,730
Thank you, Mayor.

943
01:17:17,730 --> 01:17:23,090
And I just wanted to thank everyone that came out tonight, and one way we save money

944
01:17:23,090 --> 01:17:26,250
in highlands, we don't pay for air conditioning in the city council building.

945
01:17:27,270 --> 01:17:30,530
And I don't know why I'm sitting up here with a suit coat on, because I'm roasting.

946
01:17:31,310 --> 01:17:33,030
So we ought to be saving some money.

947
01:17:34,210 --> 01:17:41,270
So I've been off and on the council now since 2010, not in consecutive terms.

948
01:17:41,270 --> 01:17:48,730
And it's been interesting for me over the years to see how much discussion we have about

949
01:17:48,730 --> 01:17:49,650
the library budget.

950
01:17:51,150 --> 01:17:55,950
And I just kind of want to put some things into perspective here tonight.

951
01:17:57,050 --> 01:18:03,870
And because I'm an avid support of libraries, I've served on the Friends American Fork Library

952
01:18:03,870 --> 01:18:05,990
Committee for 30 years.

953
01:18:05,990 --> 01:18:10,970
I'm currently the treasurer down there of the friends and they raised a lot of money.

954
01:18:12,830 --> 01:18:21,990
I helped design that building down there 30 years ago and I promoted including Highland

955
01:18:22,590 --> 01:18:24,730
in the Tempanooga Library Consortium.

956
01:18:25,490 --> 01:18:29,630
And there was debate in American Forks saying, hey, we're much bigger library so as President

957
01:18:29,630 --> 01:18:33,270
and grow, why do we want to use our tax funds

958
01:18:33,270 --> 01:18:35,270
to subsidize the Highland Library?

959
01:18:36,150 --> 01:18:38,090
And that's kind of what's happening to your agree.

960
01:18:38,270 --> 01:18:39,750
So I think you need to stop and think

961
01:18:39,750 --> 01:18:43,150
because being involved with these other two libraries,

962
01:18:43,430 --> 01:18:44,970
we increase our circulation dramatically.

963
01:18:45,790 --> 01:18:48,350
So let's just talk a little bit about perspective.

964
01:18:49,230 --> 01:18:52,810
One, I think you need to realize that Highland

965
01:18:53,670 --> 01:18:57,230
is repeatedly ranked in the top two or three

966
01:18:57,230 --> 01:19:05,630
safety cities in Utah. We also, in the last budget, we had the highest per capita income

967
01:19:05,630 --> 01:19:13,270
in the state. Pretty amazing things. When I ran for reelection last fall, and I've

968
01:19:13,270 --> 01:19:18,030
said this in some other meetings, I looked at all the certified tax rates. So let's explain

969
01:19:18,030 --> 01:19:24,750
how that works. So the way the county actually sets the certified tax rate, and so it's set

970
01:19:24,750 --> 01:19:30,570
up so property taxes really never go up they stay about the same so if your

971
01:19:30,570 --> 01:19:37,490
properties are praised more then the city has a lower certified tax rate so it's

972
01:19:37,490 --> 01:19:42,830
true at the same time that our property taxes have gone up from growth but we're

973
01:19:42,830 --> 01:19:47,950
almost at full growth now so we're getting pretty close that's why the library

974
01:19:47,950 --> 01:19:54,210
tax increases now so there was decision made in 2007 to fund a private library

975
01:19:54,210 --> 01:20:00,390
or a public library, I'm sorry, and they decided to come up with a dedicated property tax

976
01:20:00,390 --> 01:20:06,370
for the library. It's one of the smallest dedicated library taxes. If you go and look in

977
01:20:06,370 --> 01:20:12,530
the state, so we've shown some figures there. So in 2010, when I first was on the council,

978
01:20:13,650 --> 01:20:19,730
that we were in the middle of the recession, and we cut all the property tax in the city.

979
01:20:19,730 --> 01:20:23,230
And we went through every budgetary item.

980
01:20:23,430 --> 01:20:26,870
We spent eight hours in that particular session

981
01:20:26,870 --> 01:20:28,410
plus lots of other discussion.

982
01:20:29,110 --> 01:20:30,750
We were here until two o'clock in the morning.

983
01:20:32,050 --> 01:20:34,990
So at that time, and until recently,

984
01:20:35,730 --> 01:20:39,350
the library property tax has always been approximately 15%

985
01:20:39,350 --> 01:20:41,290
of the total property tax in the city.

986
01:20:41,930 --> 01:20:43,950
When I first went on the council at that time,

987
01:20:44,210 --> 01:20:49,510
the city got 16.8% of the property tax that people pay.

988
01:20:49,730 --> 01:20:53,530
Now it's down closer to 9.9 and a half percent.

989
01:20:53,810 --> 01:20:54,490
And why is that?

990
01:20:54,970 --> 01:20:58,550
The reason for that is we have not had a property tax increase

991
01:20:59,270 --> 01:21:00,350
in 18 years.

992
01:21:00,350 --> 01:21:02,830
In fact, we've had a decrease in 2010.

993
01:21:03,770 --> 01:21:06,350
But the other entities, the school districts, the county,

994
01:21:06,670 --> 01:21:09,890
all these other things who come in and raise our taxes.

995
01:21:10,110 --> 01:21:11,530
So I don't like paying taxes.

996
01:21:12,250 --> 01:21:14,150
I don't pay a lot of taxes.

997
01:21:14,870 --> 01:21:17,790
But you know, I think sometimes we need to stop and think

998
01:21:17,790 --> 01:21:23,950
that if you're paying a property tax in Highland and you itemize your taxes, what you're

999
01:21:23,950 --> 01:21:27,770
basically doing is you're bringing money that would have gone to the federal government

1000
01:21:27,770 --> 01:21:32,210
of the state back into your city. So that's one of the things I don't think we think about.

1001
01:21:32,850 --> 01:21:37,410
So a lot of people come in here and say we need to cut, cut, cut. We run Highland incredibly

1002
01:21:37,410 --> 01:21:45,650
efficient. Our total budget with all the enterprise funds, which is sewer, culinary, all those

1003
01:21:45,650 --> 01:21:50,170
other things and by the way the sewer fun keeps going up because our special service district

1004
01:21:50,170 --> 01:21:57,830
raising it but we find ways to economize but if you compare us to other cities for example

1005
01:21:57,830 --> 01:22:04,410
American fork, we're half the size of the population of American fork, their budget is four

1006
01:22:04,410 --> 01:22:11,190
and a half times bigger than ours. Okay, so if you compare we're running this city very efficiently.

1007
01:22:11,190 --> 01:22:20,550
In a month we're going to pay off one of our bonds and a year from now we're going to have both bonds paid off and we'll be essentially a debt-free city.

1008
01:22:21,150 --> 01:22:30,090
There's not many cities in the whole America that can say that. Certainly none of the other agencies can do that on higher levels, certainly the federal government.

1009
01:22:31,230 --> 01:22:35,270
So I think we have to kind of put things in perspective a little bit.

1010
01:22:35,270 --> 01:22:45,010
We live in a really good place, I think is Council over the years, we've worked really hard to run this city as efficiently as we can, and we're blessed because of it.

1011
01:22:46,150 --> 01:22:47,810
So, why do I support the library?

1012
01:22:48,370 --> 01:22:58,630
Even with this small tax increase, and it is pretty small, and I hope that you've all looked at your tax notifications you got through the county auditor a couple weeks ago.

1013
01:22:59,130 --> 01:23:00,490
I'm going to tell you about mine.

1014
01:23:00,490 --> 01:23:09,810
So I've always been below average in height and now I'm below average in property value according to this.

1015
01:23:09,970 --> 01:23:14,250
So they're saying that the average home in Highlands worth over properties worth over million dollars.

1016
01:23:14,250 --> 01:23:17,130
That's pretty amazing. I think I'm down below that.

1017
01:23:17,850 --> 01:23:28,410
So in Highland last year with the property tax for both my home here and the library and things,

1018
01:23:28,410 --> 01:23:32,170
I paid $375.66 to the city.

1019
01:23:33,030 --> 01:23:38,230
This year, the CTR for the 85% of the property tax is dropped.

1020
01:23:39,150 --> 01:23:43,410
And so my property tax for the rest of the city stuff goes down about $14.

1021
01:23:44,230 --> 01:23:49,430
Even with the library increase in minus $24.85 because my property is blow average.

1022
01:23:50,170 --> 01:23:54,030
My property taxes go up less than $10 for Highland.

1023
01:23:54,630 --> 01:23:55,070
That's $10.

1024
01:23:55,070 --> 01:24:00,910
dollars. So why don't we compare it to some other things? So we all pay for the state

1025
01:24:00,910 --> 01:24:09,230
charter school up in Alpine, and I like education, but we're going to pay $62.13 for that

1026
01:24:09,230 --> 01:24:16,650
state charter school. If your library, for me, is going to be $72. I believe in paying

1027
01:24:16,650 --> 01:24:21,130
stuff that benefits the citizens of islands. Only a few of the citizens are going to benefit

1028
01:24:21,130 --> 01:24:25,770
from that charter school in Alpine, and you can go through and compare all that stuff.

1029
01:24:26,430 --> 01:24:33,950
So we talk about the library being 2% of the budget, it's 2% of the general fund, but

1030
01:24:33,950 --> 01:24:38,910
if you go back and put in all of our other enterprise funds, sewer, culinary water, all these

1031
01:24:38,910 --> 01:24:44,970
other things we pay for, it's 1.5%, 6%, so a really small amount.

1032
01:24:44,970 --> 01:24:51,770
Now, my property tax is going to go from 1.2% for the library up to 1.8%.

1033
01:24:51,770 --> 01:24:57,490
And, you know, I don't like property tax increases, but I think the library, I think we

1034
01:24:57,490 --> 01:25:03,210
get a lot of being for our buck, as I think we have a very efficient staff.

1035
01:25:04,110 --> 01:25:07,850
We have, and there's been mention of it tonight about the fact compared to other libraries.

1036
01:25:08,010 --> 01:25:09,230
We have a very small staff.

1037
01:25:09,230 --> 01:25:21,750
We only have one full-time employee, and so we're just going to go up to two full-time and we're going to have someone to help us move these books between the three libraries because we benefit greatly from that.

1038
01:25:23,030 --> 01:25:29,630
So, I support this. I support libraries. I think everybody in here said they support the library.

1039
01:25:30,510 --> 01:25:34,210
But, you know, there's talk about switching the library to fees.

1040
01:25:34,210 --> 01:25:39,370
all these other things the library could not be sustained if that happens it's

1041
01:25:39,370 --> 01:25:45,990
a public library. So let's do some other comparisons even with this new budget our

1042
01:25:45,990 --> 01:25:52,410
library costs are going to be one-thirteen of what we pay for public safety so

1043
01:25:52,410 --> 01:25:57,930
public safety is police and fire. Essential services we appreciate all they do but

1044
01:25:57,930 --> 01:26:04,910
is one-thirteen through that. It's one-third of what we pay for garbage. So come on let's

1045
01:26:04,910 --> 01:26:09,110
just kind of do some comparisons here. We're not asking for a lot to keep our library open

1046
01:26:09,110 --> 01:26:14,930
and it has lots and lots of benefits. So I just kind of wanted to bring some of that stuff up.

1047
01:26:15,170 --> 01:26:20,630
I think we need to kind of put it in perspective. We're almost in debt for a city. We have this

1048
01:26:20,630 --> 01:26:27,530
the other thing. We had when I went compared with the other 25 cities in Utah County last year

1049
01:26:27,530 --> 01:26:33,650
are certified tax rate or so the fourth lowest. And let me tell you about the two cities

1050
01:26:33,650 --> 01:26:41,930
were lowest, Cedar Ford and Fairville, I said that wrong, Fairview. So I still said

1051
01:26:41,930 --> 01:26:47,810
it wrong, Fairfield. Okay, so the other one was Eagle Mountain, but Eagle Mountain is having

1052
01:26:47,810 --> 01:26:52,210
a big increase this year, so we may drop to the third lowest even with this small tax increase.

1053
01:26:52,210 --> 01:26:59,230
So, I think we're doing as much as we can in the city to be economical, to run things

1054
01:26:59,230 --> 01:26:59,870
effectively.

1055
01:27:00,490 --> 01:27:06,050
I don't like tax increases, you know, but at the same time, we've lived on a tax decrease

1056
01:27:06,050 --> 01:27:07,610
now for 16 years.

1057
01:27:08,070 --> 01:27:10,430
We're asking for some of that back for the library.

1058
01:27:13,130 --> 01:27:13,670
Thank you.

1059
01:27:13,950 --> 01:27:14,810
Council Member Courtney.

1060
01:27:18,930 --> 01:27:24,070
Well, to start with, I've long been a strong supporter of the library.

1061
01:27:24,070 --> 01:27:29,410
I believe that vibrant public libraries are good for our nation, they're good for our

1062
01:27:29,410 --> 01:27:32,810
community, and they support families in Highland.

1063
01:27:33,850 --> 01:27:41,290
The statistics show that the library has increasing usage across almost all metrics, the possible

1064
01:27:41,290 --> 01:27:43,010
exception of in-person visits.

1065
01:27:45,030 --> 01:27:52,670
And our library is at a point where either we increase revenue or we significantly cut services

1066
01:27:52,670 --> 01:28:01,490
is that we provide. I believe the reports that I hear from staff, that the library staff

1067
01:28:01,490 --> 01:28:08,290
is stretched in to meet the increasing demand. The question then is what we do about it.

1068
01:28:11,010 --> 01:28:16,690
Certainly have been talked about the increasing private funding. I think that's a good thing.

1069
01:28:17,970 --> 01:28:29,810
And I've long been a supporter and proponent of increasing volunteerism in the city and finding more ways for people to contribute some of their time to offset city costs.

1070
01:28:30,890 --> 01:28:43,090
But the reality is that unless all of us here brought our checkbooks and are ready to write big checks, that's not going to be an answer for the immediate shortfall that we're looking at.

1071
01:28:44,730 --> 01:28:54,330
We can increase public funding, we can have a general fund subsidy, we can spend down

1072
01:28:55,170 --> 01:29:02,730
the library reserve, which even if we spend that all the way down, it isn't going to meet

1073
01:29:02,730 --> 01:29:07,150
that shortfall in the coming year, or we can look at a tax increase.

1074
01:29:10,360 --> 01:29:13,970
We can cut costs and I'm going to come back to that one.

1075
01:29:15,330 --> 01:29:16,810
We can make a major change.

1076
01:29:17,470 --> 01:29:27,210
We received an email from somebody who suggested that we basically contract out library operations as a way of controlling and cutting costs of the library.

1077
01:29:29,740 --> 01:29:39,940
I have some significant concerns about giving up control and direct control over quality going that route.

1078
01:29:39,940 --> 01:29:44,960
of, there may be other major changes that we could be making that we're not thinking about

1079
01:29:44,960 --> 01:29:50,140
or I haven't considered or heard about, but the ones that I have don't seem like they

1080
01:29:50,140 --> 01:29:51,820
are at least short-term solutions.

1081
01:29:54,050 --> 01:29:55,890
So let me come back to cutting costs.

1082
01:29:55,890 --> 01:29:59,260
I took a look.

1083
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:22,360
I woke up a couple of days ago thinking to myself, you know, you've done a lot of slicing of the data. You need to take a look at the increase in salary and wages over time, compared with the inflation and population growth rates. Apparently, I have really weird dreams.

1084
01:30:27,160 --> 01:30:33,240
And I don't know if you can, I don't know how well this shows.

1085
01:30:34,040 --> 01:30:40,680
But the big going on top is the growth in salary and wages with the library.

1086
01:30:41,040 --> 01:30:48,620
This goes from 2009 through this current year with the proposed fee increases.

1087
01:30:51,180 --> 01:31:00,740
And the salary and wage increases are running about a little over twice the combined

1088
01:31:00,740 --> 01:31:06,600
population and inflation increases over that time period.

1089
01:31:07,460 --> 01:31:08,960
There are some reasons for that.

1090
01:31:11,220 --> 01:31:20,000
Partly, in 2019, we began accounting for some of the city staff overhead costs that

1091
01:31:20,000 --> 01:31:22,060
are spent on the library into the library budget.

1092
01:31:23,940 --> 01:31:29,720
There certainly has been a change in kind of what the table stakes are for libraries.

1093
01:31:30,300 --> 01:31:37,840
That really, to have a viable library, it's no longer just having a room full of books

1094
01:31:37,840 --> 01:31:45,120
that people can come and check out is some level of programming. I think it really is

1095
01:31:45,120 --> 01:31:53,360
just table six for a successful functioning viable library these days. But that makes

1096
01:31:53,360 --> 01:32:04,600
me wonder if we've grown larger and grander than it is necessary to kind of maintain level

1097
01:32:04,600 --> 01:32:05,100
of service.

1098
01:32:07,340 --> 01:32:12,620
And if so, is that something that we want as a policy decision going forward?

1099
01:32:16,110 --> 01:32:23,290
Cutting costs will not be minor tweaks if we're looking to cut costs to make up the gap

1100
01:32:23,610 --> 01:32:24,530
that we're looking at.

1101
01:32:26,730 --> 01:32:35,310
That the number was $10,500 that was displayed earlier if we cut

1102
01:32:35,310 --> 01:32:42,150
back four hours a week on hours that the library is open. I'm actually skeptical that it's

1103
01:32:42,150 --> 01:32:49,910
going to be that big. And the reason is that those low usage times are opportunities

1104
01:32:49,910 --> 01:32:59,010
that library staff uses to do some of the critical non-public facing tasks that are just necessary

1105
01:32:59,010 --> 01:33:06,470
in the library. So, if we're cutting back selectively on the hours when we are getting

1106
01:33:06,470 --> 01:33:11,110
relatively more of that done, I worry that we're going to have to fill in somewhat

1107
01:33:11,110 --> 01:33:15,830
with staff during the rest of the hours in order to continue doing those critical tasks.

1108
01:33:18,440 --> 01:33:25,640
In 2024, we had 233 programs. It's the data that we reported to the state.

1109
01:33:28,040 --> 01:33:29,300
If we cut 10%

1110
01:33:29,300 --> 01:33:32,600
of those programs, I think we're looking at a few thousand dollars.

1111
01:33:33,360 --> 01:33:39,100
The number we saw earlier was that if we eliminated them entirely, it saves us about thirty-six

1112
01:33:39,100 --> 01:33:40,680
thousand dollars a year.

1113
01:33:42,440 --> 01:33:48,320
Thirty-six thousand dollars a year is not going to cover the funding gap that we have coming

1114
01:33:48,320 --> 01:33:48,540
up.

1115
01:33:55,630 --> 01:34:01,870
But I am very concerned about the growth of library salary and wage expense compared with

1116
01:34:01,870 --> 01:34:10,410
population growth and inflation, that's over 75% of our budget. If you look at the rate

1117
01:34:10,410 --> 01:34:19,550
of increase, just since COVID, it's average nearly 6% a year. If we go with a proposal

1118
01:34:19,550 --> 01:34:25,730
that increases to about 9% a year over that same period. And I'm concerned about that being

1119
01:34:25,730 --> 01:34:28,470
a sustainable rate of increase.

1120
01:34:32,070 --> 01:34:36,150
To be honest, I should have been more on top of this,

1121
01:34:36,910 --> 01:34:43,550
that should have been having sustainability discussions before the tax increase was

1122
01:34:43,550 --> 01:34:51,990
proposed, and frankly should have thought to look at that, take that way of looking at

1123
01:34:51,990 --> 01:35:00,110
numbers before my subconscious told me about it four days ago. I think we're a

1124
01:35:00,110 --> 01:35:06,720
little late on really looking at that and having those discussions but at this

1125
01:35:06,720 --> 01:35:12,880
point I see three options before us. One we subsidize the library for a year while

1126
01:35:12,880 --> 01:35:21,280
we address the sustainable sustainability concerns and agree that after those

1127
01:35:22,140 --> 01:35:30,900
discussions and actions are taken into account that whatever tax increases needed to sustain

1128
01:35:31,700 --> 01:35:35,400
what we come up with will be passed next year.

1129
01:35:39,680 --> 01:35:43,920
We significantly damage what's been built by taking a hatchet to the library.

1130
01:35:45,740 --> 01:35:52,220
We're going to, if we have significant cuts, we're going to lose some really good staff

1131
01:35:52,220 --> 01:35:58,520
and a lot of institutional knowledge and just skill walked out the door and we're

1132
01:35:58,520 --> 01:36:04,060
going to harm a regional relationships if we pull out of TLC.

1133
01:36:06,670 --> 01:36:10,810
It is to Scott's

1134
01:36:10,810 --> 01:36:17,390
point that it is reasonable to look at this as our partners subsidizing

1135
01:36:17,390 --> 01:36:20,530
highland. If we

1136
01:36:22,580 --> 01:36:28,200
are into this, we decide that we are just pulling out and causing a

1137
01:36:28,200 --> 01:36:31,860
bunch of additional costs for them. It's hard to see that they are going to be

1138
01:36:31,860 --> 01:36:33,880
interested in doing that with us again.

1139
01:36:38,380 --> 01:36:40,740
The third option is adopting the tax

1140
01:36:40,740 --> 01:36:42,520
increase and then working on sustainability.

1141
01:36:45,570 --> 01:36:46,910
Personally, I can't support just

1142
01:36:46,910 --> 01:36:53,050
tacking away at the great library that we've built. I think if we do that, we're

1143
01:36:53,050 --> 01:36:55,190
leave scars at last for at least a decade.

1144
01:36:57,650 --> 01:37:02,370
And to Bruce Smith's question, that's a catastrophe that I see.

1145
01:37:03,790 --> 01:37:07,290
If we do nothing to increase the revenue to the library.

1146
01:37:10,780 --> 01:37:16,260
My inner vacuum inclination is toward subsidizing

1147
01:37:16,260 --> 01:37:22,680
the library for a year, working on having

1148
01:37:22,680 --> 01:37:29,720
the discussions on how can we adjust things, how can we slow down that salary wage growth

1149
01:37:29,720 --> 01:37:30,580
going forward.

1150
01:37:31,900 --> 01:37:37,800
I have been consistently against subsidizing the library out of the general funds, so there

1151
01:37:37,800 --> 01:37:39,100
are probably, let me count here,

1152
01:37:41,240 --> 01:37:43,580
six people sitting right here for next to me, if you were shocked

1153
01:37:43,580 --> 01:37:51,300
to see him, we just say that, but that's in a vacuum, there's real risk there.

1154
01:37:53,080 --> 01:38:02,360
If we expand positions based on that, then we may need to cut them back next year.

1155
01:38:03,980 --> 01:38:05,400
And staff is going to know that.

1156
01:38:07,710 --> 01:38:17,490
And so we run the real risk of losing good staff in that year as they move to more stable locations elsewhere.

1157
01:38:21,760 --> 01:38:24,880
That's probably the biggest risk in that approach.

1158
01:38:29,520 --> 01:38:37,540
I'm still a little bit up in the air and I'm looking forward to hearing what the rest of my colleagues up here are thinking and having some discussion.

1159
01:38:39,280 --> 01:38:45,680
I don't think that not injecting more revenue into the library is a viable option.

1160
01:38:48,160 --> 01:38:51,920
and subsidizing the general fund is a short-term solution.

1161
01:38:55,540 --> 01:38:58,820
Again, that may be my favorite short-term solution

1162
01:38:58,820 --> 01:38:59,860
at the moment.

1163
01:39:01,140 --> 01:39:04,060
Just taking a quick look through the notes they took.

1164
01:39:06,320 --> 01:39:10,820
I already addressed what's catastrophic without this.

1165
01:39:17,980 --> 01:39:25,280
When residents get to vote on the decision, if we pass this, then residents have the option

1166
01:39:25,280 --> 01:39:31,060
of filing a referendum, trying to qualify that, get it on the ballot, and then vote on

1167
01:39:31,060 --> 01:39:31,380
it then.

1168
01:39:31,860 --> 01:39:33,580
That is the only option that the state provides.

1169
01:39:33,580 --> 01:39:38,200
The state does not provide us the option to actively put it on a ballot.

1170
01:39:41,220 --> 01:39:49,520
The attendance and visitors, Karen, Erin, one of you can correct me, but I am assuming

1171
01:39:49,520 --> 01:39:59,620
that those are not de-duped numbers, the 8200 child activity visitors a year, that we

1172
01:39:59,620 --> 01:40:01,460
We have not de-duped them, probably because we can't.

1173
01:40:01,720 --> 01:40:02,620
We just don't know.

1174
01:40:03,360 --> 01:40:10,220
Likewise, the 209 daily visitors, we can reasonably suspect it, and then they give

1175
01:40:10,220 --> 01:40:10,520
them day.

1176
01:40:10,620 --> 01:40:17,140
There's very little duplication, but day over day, no, those are not de-duped numbers.

1177
01:40:21,680 --> 01:40:29,280
The benefits of the tax, I think, were largely covered in Aaron's presentation to me, the

1178
01:40:29,280 --> 01:40:37,740
But the benefit of adding revenue to the library is that we don't, again, just take

1179
01:40:37,740 --> 01:40:41,580
a hatchet to the really great library that the city is built.

1180
01:40:44,440 --> 01:40:51,220
And the question about the public safety increase, the 23 to 36 percent, I'm going to have

1181
01:40:51,220 --> 01:40:55,020
to dig in and look because I don't know what that is or where that comes from.

1182
01:40:55,580 --> 01:40:56,520
But I will do so.

1183
01:40:59,460 --> 01:41:00,400
Madam Mayor, that's it.

1184
01:41:05,320 --> 01:41:13,860
I want to start by saying when I first came onto the council, I had my perception about

1185
01:41:13,860 --> 01:41:22,900
libraries and my background actually had two books with humanitarian services for the

1186
01:41:22,900 --> 01:41:28,800
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where we were able to put programs together

1187
01:41:28,800 --> 01:41:35,660
to put books into developing countries. So books were important to me. I would go to Simon

1188
01:41:35,660 --> 01:41:41,580
Schuster and say, you've got a revision of this book coming. What are you going to do with all

1189
01:41:41,580 --> 01:41:47,100
the ones that are on palace that haven't gone out yet? Well, they donated them to us. And then we

1190
01:41:47,100 --> 01:41:56,800
donated them to 122 developing countries. That background would think that my feeling about

1191
01:41:56,800 --> 01:42:03,540
libraries would be very, very strong, but it wasn't. It was, what's the future? I don't know what

1192
01:42:03,540 --> 01:42:11,160
the future of libraries are. And I literally would have, if you would have asked me, I would have

1193
01:42:11,160 --> 01:42:18,520
said, I've been in ten years, there might not be very many libraries around. Well, I got on the council

1194
01:42:19,740 --> 01:42:26,140
and one of, we go through orientation to learn about public safety, about the library, about all the

1195
01:42:26,140 --> 01:42:30,460
different public works and everything we have to learn about. And the single,

1196
01:42:30,660 --> 01:42:39,700
greatest enlightening I had was the library. I had no clue what the library did

1197
01:42:39,700 --> 01:42:48,260
and the extent to which they didn't. It was by far, it took me from zero to

1198
01:42:48,260 --> 01:42:58,680
a hundred in light speed. I was just shocked and delighted especially for the youth the story time

1199
01:42:58,680 --> 01:43:08,500
that goes on. I mean the list of everything that they do is profound. So as an average citizen

1200
01:43:09,140 --> 01:43:16,540
libraries I had a certain thought. Most of you here appear to support the library and what we've heard

1201
01:43:16,540 --> 01:43:23,700
from has been very positive, and some who do not want to have a taxed increase, of course,

1202
01:43:23,940 --> 01:43:31,160
but majority seems to favor an increase. I will say that there was something that was

1203
01:43:31,160 --> 01:43:38,760
said tonight, and I appreciate everyone's perspective, whether it's pro or against,

1204
01:43:38,760 --> 01:43:48,460
I appreciate your perspective and and it had to do with when you do this little small increase is two dollars and thirty eight cents a month

1205
01:43:49,260 --> 01:43:51,680
but it's forever and

1206
01:43:51,680 --> 01:43:51,940
that

1207
01:43:52,800 --> 01:44:00,760
Really kind of struck me. I thought whoa that kind of is isn't it now? We did have two thousand and ten where we did a tax decrease

1208
01:44:00,760 --> 01:44:05,280
Are we likely to do that again in the future probably not

1209
01:44:06,360 --> 01:44:08,200
so that thought

1210
01:44:08,760 --> 01:44:16,300
I had to struggle with sitting here while everybody else was talking, I'm going through my mind.

1211
01:44:17,920 --> 01:44:29,040
What are we really doing with these funds and then I look at how specifically, and this is what I had to go through because that got my attention.

1212
01:44:31,140 --> 01:44:34,460
It has to do with TLC and funding TLC.

1213
01:44:35,580 --> 01:44:37,280
Do we want to discontinue that?

1214
01:44:37,420 --> 01:44:42,920
We can, but I think it's been clear that Doug's told us what impact that's likely to

1215
01:44:42,920 --> 01:44:48,360
have, and that's not a likely that will have a negative impact on our neighboring cities

1216
01:44:48,360 --> 01:44:49,040
and libraries.

1217
01:44:49,800 --> 01:44:52,720
We would not be seeing favorably if we did that.

1218
01:44:53,780 --> 01:44:54,320
Libby.

1219
01:44:55,200 --> 01:44:59,900
I used to say five of my seven fidgetes, Libby, and then my other two.

1220
01:45:00,560 --> 01:45:17,860
Corrected me. Seven of my seven children use Libby. And if I leave here tonight and they tell me that I'm making a decision that will defund Libby for Highland, I have seven children that would be really upset with me.

1221
01:45:22,080 --> 01:45:30,180
So having recognized that I'm on the board so I have gone through the budget process that

1222
01:45:30,180 --> 01:45:30,900
we've talked about.

1223
01:45:31,040 --> 01:45:32,820
Talk about fiscal responsibility.

1224
01:45:33,080 --> 01:45:43,820
I can promise you that we've done everything we can to make sure that we can't just continue

1225
01:45:43,820 --> 01:45:44,660
operating away.

1226
01:45:44,660 --> 01:45:49,040
we can, that we are with the current funding, yet reality is we can't.

1227
01:45:49,100 --> 01:45:50,940
We'd lose Libby, we'd lose TLC.

1228
01:45:52,840 --> 01:45:55,700
We'd lose even more than that in reality.

1229
01:45:58,160 --> 01:46:02,620
So there's no question in my mind that we're making the right decision.

1230
01:46:03,200 --> 01:46:14,180
My vote will be yes, and it's not that I don't listen to or care about opposing views.

1231
01:46:14,180 --> 01:46:23,380
I do and I understand them. Some of the people I respect the most has a different view and that's okay.

1232
01:46:24,660 --> 01:46:34,200
But if we don't do this, we have one full-time employee. Now, how long can we really operate?

1233
01:46:34,200 --> 01:46:41,940
Now, we haven't increased the taxes for the city, and we were able to take a part-time

1234
01:46:41,940 --> 01:46:50,100
position that had eight different people in five years in that part-time position.

1235
01:46:50,600 --> 01:46:55,180
Because part-time by nature is not consistent.

1236
01:46:55,820 --> 01:47:02,080
How the library has been able to do it with 11 part-time people and one full-time people,

1237
01:47:02,700 --> 01:47:08,280
I have no clue it's magical and that word was used and I believe it's accurate.

1238
01:47:10,140 --> 01:47:16,220
Our library director before Donna and then now Karen have been magical with what they've

1239
01:47:16,220 --> 01:47:20,340
been able to do with the budget because we on the board looked at it every month and we

1240
01:47:20,340 --> 01:47:21,540
looked at it critically.

1241
01:47:23,120 --> 01:47:29,620
Kevin Tam's comes with a really great background, West Warren has a great background in finance

1242
01:47:29,620 --> 01:47:33,320
and really what can we do, and we've looked at all of it.

1243
01:47:33,500 --> 01:47:39,220
I don't know how we could have done anything different than what we've done.

1244
01:47:39,360 --> 01:47:43,200
We're just going from one full time to full two full time,

1245
01:47:43,740 --> 01:47:49,700
then we're adding two part time, but one of those two part time is four hours of week.

1246
01:47:51,380 --> 01:47:53,180
That's one tenth of a position.

1247
01:47:54,420 --> 01:48:03,260
So it's not, when I come back to that question, that really kind of got my attention and

1248
01:48:03,260 --> 01:48:08,180
caused me to really think, is this something we really can sustain?

1249
01:48:09,100 --> 01:48:11,300
Do we want to make a commitment that's so permanent?

1250
01:48:12,800 --> 01:48:14,060
The answer is yes.

1251
01:48:17,460 --> 01:48:17,960
Thank you.

1252
01:48:18,480 --> 01:48:19,240
Councilmember Rice.

1253
01:48:21,820 --> 01:48:22,780
The only bill vote on this.

1254
01:48:22,940 --> 01:48:25,220
I'd really like to go last with your permission, please.

1255
01:48:31,680 --> 01:48:37,180
I love this process, the Truth and Taxation, and I love talking about taxes as a budget

1256
01:48:37,180 --> 01:48:38,480
analyst for the governor's office.

1257
01:48:38,480 --> 01:48:47,600
This is something that we look at daily and we try to assess what is the economic factors

1258
01:48:47,600 --> 01:48:50,560
that we'll play into, what are taxes we're looking at for that year.

1259
01:48:51,240 --> 01:48:55,720
When I ran for Highlands City Council, I never made a promise that I would not raise taxes.

1260
01:48:55,720 --> 01:49:01,320
And in fact, I made a promise that I would lean more towards being a proactive government instead of reactive.

1261
01:49:02,320 --> 01:49:08,160
And if you did ask me about taxes, I would say that I feel like taxes should be raised in concurrence with inflation.

1262
01:49:08,900 --> 01:49:14,580
We talked about the last time that we raised taxes in Highlands to do that was 2006 and we lowered them in 2010.

1263
01:49:15,960 --> 01:49:17,620
So what does that mean?

1264
01:49:18,500 --> 01:49:25,640
We've talked about how a lot of people think that if your property value goes up, your taxes go up, that is not the case.

1265
01:49:28,160 --> 01:49:36,640
So, for example, just talking about inflation from 2006 through 2025, the U.S. CPI increased about 59.9%.

1266
01:49:37,660 --> 01:49:46,620
So, in other words, something that cost $100 in 2006, which is the last time we raised our taxes actually, cost about $160 today.

1267
01:49:46,620 --> 01:49:55,680
today. So if Highland had simply kept the 2006 general rate and adjusted it for inflation,

1268
01:49:56,260 --> 01:50:07,300
that equivalent rate today would be 0.00222. But the current general rate is 0.00643. So essentially,

1269
01:50:07,480 --> 01:50:15,880
what does that mean? It merely means that with the 2006 tax rate, if you had merely kept pace with

1270
01:50:15,880 --> 01:50:21,000
inflation. Highlands current general property tax rate is about 71% lower in

1271
01:50:21,000 --> 01:50:31,420
real terms. So what I'm saying is that when we stay neutral, it doesn't mean

1272
01:50:31,420 --> 01:50:38,340
that we are not raising taxes. It actually means that it is a slow cut and that's

1273
01:50:38,340 --> 01:50:42,800
the design of truth and taxation and it's a great design. I love it because we

1274
01:50:42,800 --> 01:50:49,040
to public input, and we get to sit here and listen to everyone, and there are remarks

1275
01:50:49,040 --> 01:50:54,180
about this and be able to hold public hearings and information sessions, but there's also

1276
01:50:54,180 --> 01:51:01,840
that pressure also of figuring out how do we reduce every single year, how we manage

1277
01:51:01,840 --> 01:51:07,760
our city. Our stuff, our stuff wages are increasing. Yeah, we're not keeping up with that.

1278
01:51:09,780 --> 01:51:10,380
You

1279
01:51:10,380 --> 01:51:16,980
Or are we going to pay for that with, you know, roads costing, you know, $160 versus

1280
01:51:16,980 --> 01:51:17,640
$100.

1281
01:51:18,060 --> 01:51:24,960
That's again, we're looking at costs have increased and yet we have not increased our

1282
01:51:24,960 --> 01:51:26,280
revenue as property taxes.

1283
01:51:29,060 --> 01:51:34,360
When I hear concerns that the council reaches for tax increases, I want to let people know

1284
01:51:34,360 --> 01:51:36,200
that it simply is not the case.

1285
01:51:36,200 --> 01:51:37,380
We haven't.

1286
01:51:37,460 --> 01:51:40,820
This is the first library tax increase ever in the history of this tax.

1287
01:51:41,900 --> 01:51:43,740
And it's not the council looking for revenue.

1288
01:51:44,480 --> 01:51:51,440
It's a council that has consistently looked for how we can make cuts every single year and

1289
01:51:51,440 --> 01:51:54,240
make less, make more work for less.

1290
01:51:54,680 --> 01:51:56,060
We don't take this lightly.

1291
01:51:56,700 --> 01:52:00,240
This has been something that's been in the work and that's been talked about for the past

1292
01:52:00,240 --> 01:52:01,060
five years.

1293
01:52:01,260 --> 01:52:02,200
We have looked at grants.

1294
01:52:03,020 --> 01:52:05,120
One of my jobs is working for the state.

1295
01:52:05,120 --> 01:52:11,120
state is federal and state grants and looking for those and how we can provide those for

1296
01:52:11,120 --> 01:52:11,480
the city.

1297
01:52:11,660 --> 01:52:15,980
And I will tell you right now with federal cuts and state cuts, those grants are just

1298
01:52:15,980 --> 01:52:17,100
not there anymore.

1299
01:52:17,400 --> 01:52:21,180
And so the cities are taking on more burdens every single year.

1300
01:52:21,380 --> 01:52:27,520
So not only are we taking upon us inflation compounded over a certain amount of time, but

1301
01:52:27,520 --> 01:52:33,820
also every single year the legislator is giving us more things that we have to do without

1302
01:52:33,820 --> 01:52:39,300
any funding sources every single year and then the federal government on top of that is passing

1303
01:52:39,300 --> 01:52:47,140
on more things that we are required to do but without any funding sources. Utah State Library,

1304
01:52:47,380 --> 01:52:56,100
Division Report Timeless spends about $17.50, $17.15 per resident library services statewide meeting

1305
01:52:56,100 --> 01:53:04,360
is 36.62. We are well below the median. We're not asking to catch up. We don't do that

1306
01:53:04,360 --> 01:53:09,040
with it, or even our staff wages. We've never asked to have them catch up to median.

1307
01:53:09,600 --> 01:53:16,180
We are always saying how far below can we stay. Yet the library seeing rise in circulation

1308
01:53:16,180 --> 01:53:21,780
in print and digital, grown turnout for programs. And it's just not the library of, it's not

1309
01:53:21,780 --> 01:53:27,100
such as books, it's the program's also of the story time of the senior citizens of the

1310
01:53:27,100 --> 01:53:29,260
families all across Highland that have brought us together.

1311
01:53:29,440 --> 01:53:30,660
This is our community center.

1312
01:53:31,400 --> 01:53:37,040
This is all that we have and the library has an exceptional job of it with less and less

1313
01:53:37,040 --> 01:53:43,060
resources every single day, 71% less resources since 2006.

1314
01:53:44,020 --> 01:53:49,180
And so that kind of brings us there tonight of this process is working exactly how it should

1315
01:53:49,180 --> 01:53:50,820
be the truth and taxation process.

1316
01:53:51,920 --> 01:53:57,460
Being able to hear the public notice, being able to receive emails about it, information

1317
01:53:57,460 --> 01:54:01,880
sessions, and we listen, and we don't take that lightly.

1318
01:54:02,100 --> 01:54:08,760
We look at the data we've done this, and after all of this, and listening to your feedback,

1319
01:54:09,180 --> 01:54:16,680
I still believe the right step is for a library to increase those resources and to stop asking

1320
01:54:16,680 --> 01:54:24,800
our staff to take 71% decrease, but not just increase, not just a neutral, just a slightly

1321
01:54:24,800 --> 01:54:25,360
catch up.

1322
01:54:25,820 --> 01:54:26,200
Thank you.

1323
01:54:27,880 --> 01:54:28,720
Thank you.

1324
01:54:29,080 --> 01:54:29,880
Councilmember Rice.

1325
01:54:30,660 --> 01:54:31,060
Thank you.

1326
01:54:31,840 --> 01:54:34,720
And I do appreciate all of you being here tonight.

1327
01:54:37,340 --> 01:54:45,720
These are hard decisions, but I appreciate those of you who have been vocal here and email

1328
01:54:45,720 --> 01:54:52,340
and phone calls to me. This isn't about me, but I didn't need to explain to you that when I was

1329
01:54:52,340 --> 01:54:57,360
elected last November, I told the people that voted for me, that I would not vote for a property

1330
01:54:57,360 --> 01:55:05,830
tax increase, and that also includes a bond, so I want you to understand that. I also want you

1331
01:55:05,830 --> 01:55:09,950
to understand that I was a school teacher, a matter of fact, I was an armed junior, or excuse me,

1332
01:55:10,110 --> 01:55:16,150
I was at Mount Ridge Junior when the library was at Mount Ridge, and I would go in when I was

1333
01:55:16,150 --> 01:55:22,110
late at night, seven eight o'clock at night, and help her put books away. So this library

1334
01:55:22,110 --> 01:55:27,470
has come a long way. I asked permission from Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. They were the very

1335
01:55:27,470 --> 01:55:33,490
first ones to speak tonight. And they just moved here, if you recall, they just moved

1336
01:55:33,490 --> 01:55:39,730
here from Tacoma, Washington about three months ago. My discussions with them have been somewhat

1337
01:55:39,730 --> 01:55:47,070
interesting. He said that his taxes when they left were $1,400 a month a month.

1338
01:55:49,340 --> 01:55:49,900
We cannot

1339
01:55:49,900 --> 01:55:56,140
continue to raise taxes for every noble or worthy cause. That's his comment and it

1340
01:55:56,140 --> 01:56:04,120
is also mine. Sure, this is a worthy cause. Yeah, I'm for the library too. But we cannot

1341
01:56:04,120 --> 01:56:12,620
not do this and not have some problems down the road and you're about to get hit with

1342
01:56:12,620 --> 01:56:14,900
some other things that I'm going to bring up in a moment.

1343
01:56:16,340 --> 01:56:20,500
I heard somebody say the other night at the Thursday night meeting that Libby was free.

1344
01:56:21,660 --> 01:56:24,760
It's not free and I think we need to do a better job of educating the public.

1345
01:56:24,900 --> 01:56:25,980
I know people that love Libby.

1346
01:56:26,540 --> 01:56:27,920
I have a sister who loves Libby.

1347
01:56:27,980 --> 01:56:33,100
She lives in Boise, Idaho, but she loves it and I know that I have friends that love it.

1348
01:56:33,100 --> 01:56:39,100
and I don't want that to go away either, but it's not free.

1349
01:56:44,550 --> 01:56:51,450
I'm going to read part of this because I don't want to be misconstrued and I do have a copy for you, Stephanie, even a moment.

1350
01:56:52,090 --> 01:57:03,650
I, too, have spoken with or received emails from approximately to at this point tonight and including you, 267 people who are against the tax and

1351
01:57:03,650 --> 01:57:10,490
65 people who are for the tax. Most of those individuals currently serve or have previously

1352
01:57:10,490 --> 01:57:15,850
served on the library board of the City Council. I have never served on the library board.

1353
01:57:16,710 --> 01:57:24,970
My responsibilities are in other places. This city has promoted this as a relatively small

1354
01:57:24,970 --> 01:57:30,550
increase. However, my own property tax increase would be higher than the examples that have

1355
01:57:30,550 --> 01:57:36,110
been presented. Since I'm the only no vote on the council, this tax increase will pass,

1356
01:57:36,710 --> 01:57:44,810
but I want you to know a couple of things. On my property tax thing, that percentage reads 52.65

1357
01:57:44,810 --> 01:57:52,730
percent increase, and you need to take a look at your percentages, please. My dad used to say,

1358
01:57:53,410 --> 01:57:59,270
we dig our grave of debt one shovel full at a time. You're right, not a big tax increase,

1359
01:57:59,270 --> 01:58:03,830
really isn't. But I want you to make sure that you're watching your percentages.

1360
01:58:05,210 --> 01:58:10,010
So yeah, let's put this in perspective. I'm voting no for several reasons.

1361
01:58:11,330 --> 01:58:14,010
Many Highland residents oppose this property tax increase.

1362
01:58:14,830 --> 01:58:18,310
This is not an isolated group or simply an echo chamber on Facebook.

1363
01:58:19,290 --> 01:58:23,830
These are residents from Clara Cross Highland, including people on fixed incomes

1364
01:58:23,830 --> 01:58:27,590
and families who are already facing increasing financial pressures.

1365
01:58:28,210 --> 01:58:31,490
They are not two income households.

1366
01:58:32,130 --> 01:58:33,110
Many of them.

1367
01:58:33,550 --> 01:58:36,550
I am a single household income.

1368
01:58:38,130 --> 01:58:38,250
Okay?

1369
01:58:39,710 --> 01:58:42,670
The library, I believe, has other financial resources available.

1370
01:58:43,610 --> 01:58:46,510
The library has a foundation, along with reserve funds,

1371
01:58:46,730 --> 01:58:50,130
that could help cover these expenses for at least a couple of years.

1372
01:58:51,110 --> 01:58:54,310
In addition, the annual file and fling book sale generates revenue.

1373
01:58:54,310 --> 01:59:03,730
paying benefits through to Utah retirement systems represents a significant long-term cost for

1374
01:59:03,730 --> 01:59:10,970
Highland taxpayers. I was told that the City and Council did not want to pursue this proposal

1375
01:59:10,970 --> 01:59:18,650
during an election year. We also have written grants. I know that they have, they've tried, they've

1376
01:59:18,650 --> 01:59:25,910
look for them. That's probably true, which Karen has been a master at so far. I am concerned

1377
01:59:25,910 --> 01:59:30,270
about people on six incomes. As mentioned above, we continue to raise taxes and fees

1378
01:59:30,270 --> 01:59:35,990
on people who are already struggling to remain in their homes in Highland. You will be soon

1379
01:59:35,990 --> 01:59:42,290
paying for pressurized irrigation. While this is not a property tax, it will result in a higher

1380
01:59:42,290 --> 01:59:49,730
monthly utility costs. I expect those fees particularly during July and August to be considerably

1381
01:59:49,730 --> 01:59:56,970
higher than what many residents currently anticipate. There are going to be some additional taxes

1382
01:59:56,970 --> 01:59:59,350
is from the new Aspen School District.

1383
02:00:00,000 --> 02:00:29,940
Based on the information I have received, this is at least a 20% increase. I hope I'm wrong on that, but that's what I've been told. I have personally supported the library. I donated part of my discretionary council funds to purchase a cover for the pickup truck used to transport books between American, Florida, Pleasant Grove, and Highland. While the consortium has increased library usage, I am not convinced that the arrangement has been entirely beneficial for Highland tax

1384
02:00:29,940 --> 02:00:38,780
taxpayers. This property tax is permanent. One implemented taxes don't go away. We need

1385
02:00:38,780 --> 02:00:44,020
to be more conservative and deliberate in our spending decisions. I am a true fiscal

1386
02:00:44,020 --> 02:00:51,800
conservative. While many people hold library cards including myself, not all want the tax

1387
02:00:51,800 --> 02:00:57,780
increase. Community programs can often be funded through partnerships. I believe that the city

1388
02:00:57,780 --> 02:01:01,500
She should explore additional partnerships with local businesses before asking residents

1389
02:01:01,500 --> 02:01:02,560
to pay higher taxes.

1390
02:01:06,770 --> 02:01:08,350
I love our new events coordinator.

1391
02:01:08,570 --> 02:01:09,710
She is a full-time person.

1392
02:01:10,090 --> 02:01:13,810
I have worked with her on the America 250 and the fling.

1393
02:01:14,510 --> 02:01:16,530
And the last month, she's really awesome.

1394
02:01:17,270 --> 02:01:22,030
And I think we did an amazing job on the colonial village and everything that we did.

1395
02:01:23,210 --> 02:01:30,110
However, I am aggressively concerned that our events coordinator who is full-time will be running

1396
02:01:30,110 --> 02:01:34,970
programs for the library. So the city will be paying for a third full-time employee for

1397
02:01:34,970 --> 02:01:39,430
the library. I'm not saying this is going on now, but that needs to be separated.

1398
02:01:41,550 --> 02:01:41,810
Current

1399
02:01:41,810 --> 02:01:47,870
library tax revenues should be sufficient. I expected to see a proposal that included compromises,

1400
02:01:47,870 --> 02:01:54,050
such as adjusted hours, or other cost-saving measures. While some elected officials point out

1401
02:01:54,050 --> 02:01:59,870
that Highland has not raised property taxes in several years, we also face other higher priority

1402
02:01:59,870 --> 02:02:05,090
infrastructure and community needs that will require attention in the near future.

1403
02:02:06,870 --> 02:02:12,910
We cannot continue increasing taxes simply again because this is a worthwhile cause.

1404
02:02:15,890 --> 02:02:21,430
I am really disappointed that what I believe are reasonable fiscal concerns have not received

1405
02:02:22,030 --> 02:02:25,510
more greater consideration by the Highlands City Council.

1406
02:02:25,510 --> 02:02:30,570
I also want you to understand that American Four Library had to cut hours.

1407
02:02:31,690 --> 02:02:37,190
They reduced their hours, yes, they did reduce their hours, and they had one

1408
02:02:37,190 --> 02:02:43,190
person that retired and they did not replace that retirement person in order to

1409
02:02:43,190 --> 02:02:48,230
cut personnel costs. So I want you to be aware of those things and pleasant

1410
02:02:48,230 --> 02:02:53,850
growth also had to cut a few hours. So my vote is no. I believe I've laid out

1411
02:02:53,850 --> 02:03:00,230
sufficient reasons why that vote is known. I do believe that what Miss Walker said, I don't

1412
02:03:00,230 --> 02:03:04,190
mean to call you out. It's your last name, Walker. I beg your pardon. Yes, our career, the career,

1413
02:03:05,090 --> 02:03:15,110
but I beg your pardon. It is a slippery slope. I would agree with that very much, but I appreciate

1414
02:03:15,110 --> 02:03:23,010
serving for highland all of highland and I want you to know that this is a

1415
02:03:23,010 --> 02:03:27,690
really big concern for me and it should be for you as well. That's all I have

1416
02:03:27,690 --> 02:03:34,530
thank you. Okay, thank you. I'm gonna just say a couple of things. First off I

1417
02:03:34,530 --> 02:03:38,430
want you to know what a fantastic council you have and I think that the fact that

1418
02:03:38,430 --> 02:03:43,610
we may think differently on this issue doesn't change the amount of concern that

1419
02:03:43,610 --> 02:03:47,770
we have about the residents and doesn't change whether we're physically conservative or not.

1420
02:03:48,310 --> 02:03:53,130
We are all doing the best we can and making the best decisions that we can.

1421
02:03:53,670 --> 02:04:00,750
I do not believe it's in our best interest to do bad policy which to me would be taking

1422
02:04:00,750 --> 02:04:04,070
money out of our general fund to subsidize the library.

1423
02:04:04,930 --> 02:04:09,730
To me that idea like then is that we have all this money in our general fund that we could

1424
02:04:09,730 --> 02:04:11,370
take to use the library.

1425
02:04:11,370 --> 02:04:15,670
We don't have that money because we've cut back everywhere we can.

1426
02:04:16,710 --> 02:04:22,930
I think it's bad policy to rely on volunteers, donations, or grants when we've been looking

1427
02:04:22,930 --> 02:04:28,110
for that for the past since I've been on the council six years and have done everything

1428
02:04:28,110 --> 02:04:29,770
that we can to do that.

1429
02:04:31,110 --> 02:04:36,670
Again, this isn't something, the truth and taxation process started earlier this spring but

1430
02:04:36,670 --> 02:04:40,550
this is not something that we started talking about this spring or last month.

1431
02:04:40,550 --> 02:04:45,210
This is something that's been talked about for a really, really long time.

1432
02:04:46,830 --> 02:04:51,310
I also just would like to say thank you to everybody who came and shared their perspective.

1433
02:04:52,830 --> 02:04:58,890
I think it was a great meeting and everybody was super respectful, which I really appreciate.

1434
02:04:59,070 --> 02:05:03,290
I think a lot of other issues were brought up, things about our public safety, things about

1435
02:05:03,290 --> 02:05:05,210
our general fund encroachment.

1436
02:05:05,350 --> 02:05:07,590
I was super interested, but that got brought up.

1437
02:05:07,590 --> 02:05:11,930
But I would love to talk to any of you about any of those things.

1438
02:05:12,170 --> 02:05:14,310
If you want my phone number, I'm happy to give it to you.

1439
02:05:14,490 --> 02:05:19,070
I'm happy to talk to you anytime and I think the other council members are to you on all

1440
02:05:19,070 --> 02:05:19,690
of those issues.

1441
02:05:19,890 --> 02:05:23,050
And I would encourage everybody to remain engaged.

1442
02:05:23,290 --> 02:05:26,390
And if this is something you care about, volunteer at the library.

1443
02:05:26,670 --> 02:05:32,150
Help us look for donations, help us look for grants, participate in the book sale at the

1444
02:05:32,150 --> 02:05:32,750
Highland Sling.

1445
02:05:32,870 --> 02:05:35,090
I think there are lots of ways that we can all participate.

1446
02:05:36,770 --> 02:05:41,990
The last thing, and then I'll turn it over to Council for a motion or further discussion

1447
02:05:41,990 --> 02:05:50,110
is I would also like you to know how proactive your Council has been in some of the other

1448
02:05:50,110 --> 02:05:51,290
boards that they sit on.

1449
02:05:51,750 --> 02:05:58,590
So some of the things you may not see or that are visible, we have our TSSD, where our

1450
02:05:58,590 --> 02:06:04,570
see where it goes. We have our garbage. We have our public safety that is separate raises.

1451
02:06:04,770 --> 02:06:09,410
We have our 9-1-1. There are a lot of different boards that these council members sit on and

1452
02:06:09,410 --> 02:06:14,590
I want you to know that at every single meeting they go to, they are fighting for you and they

1453
02:06:14,590 --> 02:06:19,830
are pushing back on those, you know, what are called small increases, but they are working

1454
02:06:19,830 --> 02:06:25,050
every day to save you money in every way that they can. And I just want to acknowledge that because

1455
02:06:25,050 --> 02:06:26,530
I think there's a lot of work that goes on

1456
02:06:26,530 --> 02:06:28,130
with our Council and it's appreciated.

1457
02:06:30,330 --> 02:06:33,350
That's really all I had to say.

1458
02:06:33,950 --> 02:06:35,550
So if there's further discussion,

1459
02:06:35,770 --> 02:06:36,590
I'm happy to take that.

1460
02:06:36,690 --> 02:06:38,770
I'm also happy to entertain a motion.

1461
02:06:45,880 --> 02:06:46,820
I've just got a couple,

1462
02:06:49,200 --> 02:06:52,960
one point and then a question perhaps,

1463
02:06:53,620 --> 02:06:54,600
maybe two questions.

1464
02:06:56,100 --> 02:07:00,840
If first on, we had heard that folks didn't want

1465
02:07:01,260 --> 02:07:04,500
I have this issue come up during an election year.

1466
02:07:05,580 --> 02:07:08,300
If you all were listening to me, that's actually my first choice.

1467
02:07:09,220 --> 02:07:13,000
In fact, having it come up during an election year, because putting it off

1468
02:07:13,000 --> 02:07:18,940
a year before doing it, it puts it smack dab in the middle of an election year.

1469
02:07:22,020 --> 02:07:29,060
With regard to the one year subsidy out of the general fund,

1470
02:07:32,240 --> 02:07:38,340
I do have some concerns about that approach in some of the risk that we have.

1471
02:07:38,820 --> 02:07:47,940
How would you characterize the risk to long-term stability in the library if we were to go

1472
02:07:47,940 --> 02:07:58,840
that route to use one-time money to bridges for a year during which year we really

1473
02:07:58,840 --> 02:08:08,280
We work to look at what we can do to restructure something to bring down that rate of salary

1474
02:08:08,280 --> 02:08:15,480
and wage increase with a commitment that whatever we come up with at the end of that year,

1475
02:08:16,780 --> 02:08:23,780
we would be raising the library tax to what's needed there, which hopefully would be at least

1476
02:08:23,780 --> 02:08:25,460
a little bit less than what we're talking about now.

1477
02:08:25,460 --> 02:08:31,740
but what would you see as the risk there?

1478
02:08:37,650 --> 02:08:41,330
I would say the risk to that would be the uncertainty

1479
02:08:41,330 --> 02:08:42,750
for an additional year.

1480
02:08:43,550 --> 02:08:46,630
I think that you mentioned previously,

1481
02:08:46,810 --> 02:08:49,610
Council Member Courtney, about what will that do

1482
02:08:49,610 --> 02:08:52,970
for our staff, long-term will they want to stay?

1483
02:08:53,690 --> 02:08:57,710
As we've discussed tonight, one of the things

1484
02:08:57,710 --> 02:09:02,290
that this would do would be to transition one position from part time to full time.

1485
02:09:02,930 --> 02:09:07,430
I would, as a staff member, I would feel apprehensive.

1486
02:09:07,610 --> 02:09:17,770
I would caution against making that type of a move with funding that is not consistent

1487
02:09:17,770 --> 02:09:18,590
and certain.

1488
02:09:19,370 --> 02:09:23,890
And so it would be, of course, that's the council's decision ultimately.

1489
02:09:23,890 --> 02:09:32,750
So it was said by multiple people tonight that while some members of the public may just

1490
02:09:32,750 --> 02:09:37,950
be learning about this discussion, it's been going on for a number of years and so my

1491
02:09:38,610 --> 02:09:43,070
concern would be more additional uncertainty for a longer period of time.

1492
02:09:43,770 --> 02:09:48,690
Financially, the general fund budget could do it for a year to use one-time monies to do

1493
02:09:48,690 --> 02:09:53,890
it and still stay within a range that staff would feel comfortable from a rainy day standpoint.

1494
02:09:54,330 --> 02:09:59,170
It's the intangible concerns that I would worry about.

1495
02:10:01,300 --> 02:10:05,860
And just as a budget analyst for the state, we would never use one time running for

1496
02:10:05,860 --> 02:10:08,560
ongoing projects for your creating structural deficits.

1497
02:10:09,020 --> 02:10:10,300
So I would never vote for that.

1498
02:10:14,380 --> 02:10:15,680
That's all I have, Madam Mayor.

1499
02:10:20,630 --> 02:10:20,770
Okay.

1500
02:10:21,010 --> 02:10:24,770
I can have further discussion or I'm happy to entertain a motion either way.

1501
02:10:24,770 --> 02:10:25,730
I

1502
02:10:32,100 --> 02:10:59,840
move the City Council approve the resolution adopting the fiscal year 2026, 2027 certified tax rate of 0.00775 which includes a 0.00630 for city operations and 0.00145 for library operations.

1503
02:11:01,360 --> 02:11:05,480
That was a motion by Councilmember Campbell, and now we're looking for a second.

1504
02:11:09,560 --> 02:11:10,440
I'll second it.

1505
02:11:11,020 --> 02:11:16,320
That was a second by Councilmember Smith, and we are ready for electronic voting, or

1506
02:11:16,320 --> 02:11:17,620
we voice voting, Erin.

1507
02:11:18,820 --> 02:11:19,080
Electronic voting.

1508
02:11:19,080 --> 02:11:19,520
You're electronic.

1509
02:11:19,920 --> 02:11:20,300
Not perfect.

1510
02:11:20,620 --> 02:11:20,960
Thank you.

1511
02:11:35,760 --> 02:11:36,500
That passes.

1512
02:11:37,040 --> 02:11:37,900
Four to one.

1513
02:11:39,520 --> 02:11:40,260
Thank you.

1514
02:11:40,400 --> 02:11:43,220
And again, thank you, everybody, for coming.

1515
02:11:43,220 --> 02:11:48,540
I think even if we end up with different points of view at the end of the day, I think

1516
02:11:48,540 --> 02:11:53,440
you've given us a lot of really good information and things to think about and things to consider

1517
02:11:53,980 --> 02:11:55,180
as we go forward.

1518
02:11:55,560 --> 02:12:00,780
And I know that I will take that seriously and I'm sure the council will as well.

1519
02:12:02,500 --> 02:12:06,660
If there's any specific issue, feel free to call us, email us, we would all love to talk

1520
02:12:06,660 --> 02:12:07,000
about it.

1521
02:12:07,640 --> 02:12:11,060
That being said, we can move on to item 1B.

1522
02:12:11,060 --> 02:12:14,340
This is a public hearing as well, so there will be more time for comment.

1523
02:12:15,060 --> 02:12:19,600
This is the adoption of the fiscal year 2026, 2027, final budget.

1524
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Erin, that's over to you.

1525
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Thank you, Madam Mayor. I only have this slide.

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So this summarizes the changes from the interim budget that was approved in June to the final budget before you.

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The only changes have to do with the library property tax that we just discussed.

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We did some slide adjustments based on updated numbers from the state, which we previously

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talked about in which we put in our impact schedule.

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And then secondly, the state required us to essentially set up some holding accounts

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until the council made the final decision at the Truth and Taxation meeting.

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And so those accounts have been removed, again, have been removed pending the potential decision

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on this.

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So those are the only changes in the budget from what you saw in June to what is in part

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of you tonight.

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So just in summary, this budget contemplates the tax increase having passed, which just

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occurred.

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Okay.

1539
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Thank you.

1540
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And I am so sorry, Erin.

1541
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I neglected to do this earlier, but thank you so much to staff for all of the work you and

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David.

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Jay has been amazing.

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Karen has been fantastic, and we appreciate everything you do.

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So, this process is laborious for you all, and it's appreciated.

1546
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All right, let's move on.

1547
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The budget is something we've talked about several times, but let's go back to Council

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and see if there's any further comment, and let's start with you, Council Member Courtney.

1549
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No, this is essentially the same budget that we have looked at in the past just with those

1550
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minor tweaks.

1551
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So, after we have the public hearing, I'm ready to vote on it.

1552
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Okay.

1553
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We're going to take quick comments, and actually, you know what, you're right.

1554
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Let's go let's go to our public hearing and then we'll see if we have anybody online. So we'll go ahead and open the public hearing and

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This is for our adoption of the 2026 2027 budget

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Would anybody like to comment? Hey,

1557
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I don't see anyone Jay. Is there anybody online who would like to comment?

1558
02:14:27,820 --> 02:14:32,900
No, there's not hey, we can close the public hearing and move on to council member Campbell

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Excuse me as a council. We've kind of lived in breeds

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this for the last number of months. I don't think there's any part of it that I haven't gone through.

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And I support the work we've done. I've support the work that the staff has done. I appreciate David's

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diligence and adjusting things as we ask the...

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May be adjusted, and I fully support this budget. Council Member Rice. I still stand by everything

1564
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I said before, and I don't have any further comment. Thank you. Council Member Radella.

1565
02:15:14,960 --> 02:15:20,980
No comment. We've gone over it a bunch, so I don't have anything else. And Council Member Smith.

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Well, we've passed the general budget back in June, and we just had to do the truth and

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I just wanted to express my appreciation one for everybody that came and gave us a lot

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of interesting ideas and comments and certainly I think of things differently than I did

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when I walked in this room, so I really appreciate that.

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I appreciate the comments that every council member has made.

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I think everyone made some interesting points.

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Doug, you're always so thorough.

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And my goodness, Liz, you had a very thorough presentation.

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And I was impressed with all the stats and statistics

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that Kim had and all the things that Ron did.

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So I really appreciate this been a long process.

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I think we worked together as a council.

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Every council I've been on works hard

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to keep our costs low in this city.

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I think we run it very efficiently, or there are ways we can improve, of course.

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And we all work, as you mentioned, to try to keep our costs down through the special service

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districts and things.

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So I just wanted to thank everyone for all their work and their comments.

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And I just think it's been good to hear what everybody's had to say.

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Okay.

1586
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Thank you.

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If there's no further discussion, we can head for a motion.

1588
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I'll make that motion.

1589
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Is that okay?

1590
02:16:57,430 --> 02:17:02,970
Yes, please. Okay. I move that the Highland City Council approve the ordinance adopting the Highland City

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fiscal year 2026 2027 final budget as discussed. I'll second. That was a motion by council member Smith and a second by council member

1592
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Brogela and we can move on to a vote.

1593
02:17:36,180 --> 02:17:38,960
Okay, and that passes of four to one and

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With that, I think that's all we have on our agenda for tonight. I move that we adjourn

1595
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Perfect and all those in favor. I perfect. Thank you all for coming