Carter says Library has over $6 million in reserve
LOUISA – Lawrence County Fiscal Court held their regular monthly meeting on August 22, 2109. The Court made decisions from approving donations for Septemberfest to having conflict with the Library taxes and how funds are being spent.
They held the Opening Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance before calling the meeting to order.
- Approve minutes of the July 16, 2019 Regular meeting and The Aug. 5, 2019 Special Meeting. Motion made by Rick Blackburn, second by Mike Halcomb.
- Approve of 1st Reading of Budget Amendment #1. Motion made by Mike Halcomb, second John Scaggs.
- Approve Bills. Motion made by David Pinson, second by Rick Blackburn.
- Approve Treasurer’s Request. Motion made by Rick Blackburn, second by Mike Halcomb.
- Accept Treasurer’s Report. Motion made by David Pinson, second by Rick Blackburn.
- Update from Teleworks – Teleworks representative was proud to report Lawrence County has 28 hires and Teleworks is currently hiring this is bringing in more revenue for Lawrence County as a whole.
Approved Donation to Septemberfest in the amount of $1000.00. Motion made by David Pinson, second by Rick Blackburn.
Approved Resolution and Agreement with Commonwealth of Ky. Department of Rural Secondary Program (Flex Funds $181,701). Motion made by Rick Blackburn, second by David Pinson.
Discussed raising tax rates for the Library:
According to information provided by Judge/Executive Phil Carter currently Lawrence County is the 5th highest in the State of KY. for library taxes at 14.7% paying the highest salaries with miscellaneous expenditures such as purchasing vehicles and building expansions.
The Court decided not to accept an increase in the tax rate at this time after a presentation by director Carlie Pelphrey who said today that there was no request for a raise in the library tax in the budget, anyway.
“We need to change how the library assesses its needs,” Judge Executive Phillip Carter said. “We need to lower the rate and I will not sign anything at this time if it is run like it has been run in the past.”
“We are not against the library in any way. We just feel the excess funds should be applied to the children.”
In response to Carter Ms. Hillman issued the following statement:
“…The Board of Trustees did not raise the library tax. They voted to keep the property and real taxes at 14.7 again this year, which is below the compensating rate. See attached document for historical tax rates.
Furthermore, I’d like to address several comments made by Judge Carter in the August 20 Fiscal Court meeting. The information below is per the KDLA 2017-2018 Statistical Report at: https://kdla.ky.gov/librarians/plssd/Documents/KDLA1718.pdf.
Items of note that were addressed in fiscal court:
*We are not in the top ten for library revenue.
*We are not in the top ten for staff salaries.
(It was stated we were ranked fifth in the state.)
In comparison with the other libraries in the state we rank:
#47 in LOCAL GOVERNMENT REVENUE
#42 in OVERALL REVENUE
#60 in TOTAL SALARIES
In comparison with other libraries in the state we ARE IN THE TOP TEN:
NUMBER OF CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS (#8)
NUMBER OF CHILDREN’S PROGRAM ATTENDANCE (#3)
NUMBER OF YOUNG ADULT PROGRAMS (#4)
NUMBER OF YOUNG ADULT PROGRAM ATTENDANCE (#7)
NUMBER OF ADULT PROGRAMS (#9)
TOTAL NUMBER OF PROGRAMS (#6)
TOTAL PROGRAM ATTENDANCE (#8)
REFERENCE TRANSACTIONS (#6)
REGISTERED USERS (#6)
Carlie N. Pelfrey, Director
Lawrence County Public Library…”
Carter has appointed two new members to the five member library board in recent months and has expressed concern over the use of library funds.
It is not clear whether or not the fiscal court has any sayso over the library tax except to agree to accept the library budget into the minutes of the court.
HERE IS A STATEMENT RELEASED BY JUDGE/EXEC. CARTER THIS AFTERNOON:
“…The Lawrence County Fiscal Court is in full support of the Library and believe that they do wonderful things for our children and our community. We just feel that the large sum of money they have accumulated which is in excess of $6,000,000. could help our community and rural children and would also justify lowering their current tax rate.
We feel the summer feeding program that is held at the library in partnership with the USDA Summer Food Service Program is fantastic and are so glad that they are a sponsor in that program. In no way is the Lawrence County Fiscal Court or the Lawrence County Judge Executive against the Lawrence County Library. We would very much like to work with the Library.
The Lawrence County Fiscal Court’s desire is that the Library lower its tax rate to lower the burden of the tax payers in our county. According to the 2018 Kentucky Department of Revenue our Library has the 5th highest property tax rate in the State at 14.7.
To reiterate the Lawrence County Fiscal Court is in no way anti-library to the contrary we love and support what the Lawrence County Library does for our County, our only displeasure is the tax rate 14.7 and excess funds. The Fiscal Court feels that the Lawrence County Library could be managed at the same level as now while lowering the rate…”
The court also:
- Discussed work permits for companies working in the county in order to compile an Information Data Base. The permits would allow the county to know who is working within the county and the location to protect the roads or highways from possible damage left behind. This was tabled to the next meeting. Motion made by Rick Blackburn, second by Mike Halcomb.
- Discussed Resolution to Commit $5,000.00 to the Kentucky Mountain Recreational Authority for the Hiring of an Executive Director and Staff was tabled to the next meeting.
- Accepted Sheriff’s 2018 Tax Settlement. Motion made by David Pinson, second by Rick Blackburn.
- Accepted Sheriff’s 2018 Franchise Settlement. Motion made by Mike Halcomb, second by Rick Blackburn.
- Accepted Sheriff’s 2018 Gas and Oil Settlement. Motion made by Rick Blackburn, second by Mike Halcomb.
- The Guardianship Evaluation Fees and the discussion on Hylton and Rood Rd. Closures were both tabled until next meeting.
- Public Comments were heard and updates from the Board Members on their steady progress. Motion made by David Pinson, second by Mike Halcomb.
- Adjournment motion made by Rick Blackburn, second by Mike Halcomb.
He never said they had the highest revenue. He said top in tax rates. Big difference. Same for labor verses salaries. To be a library representative you misrepresent the statements of others. There is entirely way too much money spent on the library considering today that almost everything in the library is available online and there are few families who don’t have internet service although many probably have poor service. I would recommend spending funds l, even from the library on improvements to internet service to the County especially low income families.
Of course Carter is against library in the area – he wasn’t part of building it and providing programs for children.
They have very limited activities in the area – glad the city park, county library cares about our youth.
Most folks who make descent wages move from the area – can the county provide demographic profile on the following: how many people leave the region & why? Of those leaving did they feel their children had adequate resources?
I’d just like to comment that, sure, a lot of the things at the library are available online. I’m a single parent and I can’t afford internet at our house, so we use the library a lot. I’ve done papers there for my college classes, my girls have used the WiFi there for their homework. We’ve attended classes there where we’ve learned new skills and concepts. We’ve attended their free movie days during the summer. We can’t afford to go to the movies because they’re so expensive. And the people who work at the library are well educated and quite helpful when I need to get assistance doing anything from a resume to research for a paper. There are free genealogy resources there that rival those of much larger city libraries. I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the advantages of having this center of resources.
way to go Phil the library tax is wat to high needs to be cut way down since about everybody has the internet
KAG
I agree ,the people of Lawrence county are taxed to death the way it is.lowering them would really help retired and working families
Maybe we are “taxed to death” but do you really think the Library accquired all 6,000.000 from one round of taxes? Think about it, not only do they have that money, but they also paid their payroll and other expenses. It didn’t all come from a big tax it came from fiscal responsibility, which is something the Library’s Director seems to have a good sense of. Also, I am sure there are many State regulations that govern what funds may be taken in and what they are used for. I understand about not wanting higher taxes but I think Carter is trying to divert our attention from where it needs to be. The Library is doing great and providing our area with a wonderful service unlike many of the items we do pay high taxes for – the roads are a great example – they are in terrible shape. Carter is looking to cause trouble, he is looking for us to blame anyone but him for the situation the county and even the city (yes, the city is part of the county and pays taxes) for the sorry shape. Let’s be happy the Library is doing well and helping our county – unlike Carter. Pay attention, the Library is not the only place, who provides services to the county, that Carter is trying to hurt (and he is trying to hurt them no matter how much he says he supports them – look at his actions, compared to his words).
The Lawrence County Fiscal Court should lower the library rate, as per Judge Carter’s findings. It is hard for people who are on a fixed budget to always have to deal with higher and higher rates from all of the taxes and utility bills that residents have to pay as it is. Residents deserve to not have to pay higher rates from any service (such as the library tax) if that service has an excess in funds. Everybody wants to charge customers and residents more and more; however, residents and customers do not make more and more money to pay for all of these increases. It has to stop somewhere and I am glad that the Judge is trying to get that library tax rate lowered for residents. How refreshing it is to see that someone is looking out for the residents of Louisa.
if you want your wages and benefits to go up join a union it’s simple just look at the work force before 1981 and after 1981 what is the one big difference union membership people just don’t understand when the unions are strong even the scabs benefit
KAG
If it weren’t for unions fighting for higher wages, where would we be today? Scabs need to stay off our backs and stop being leeches or join us.
AMEN BROTHER
KAG
Mae and the County Judge are both confused. The library did not ask for a raise in taxes and the Fiscal Court does not control the library tax. It’s a state regulated board … not a county board. Mrs. Pelphrey didn’t ask Carter to sign off on anything. She presented the tax rate to him as she is required to by the state. The tax rate is the same as it has been for the past 4 years. Carter wants the public to think she asked for a raise and he refused it but it’s not true… she didn’t ask and he had nothing to refuse.
I’m behind the Library good for them We need things for kids and the community. It looks like money in Countys hands is more important then the people. Thanks for letting me see where you stand Mr. Carter. This is one vote you wont get a second time.
WAY TO GO PHIL YOU WILL HAVE MY VOTE
KAG
American Greed …..
Amen to the surplus of the money. All they know to do is renovate to spend it.
Sitting on this large amount of money sounds greedy to me. Just curious, is the library debt free? Has the new building and its renovation been paid in full? If not, why not?
I’m very proud of Judge Carter!!! It’s more important for the people of Lawrence County to have money in their pocket than the library to stockpile the money they receive!! The library gets grants, grants are taxpayers money, so why keep being so greedy? Look at the salaries of the library officials, there’s no way that can justify the small amount of people that use it. You drive by and the parking lot has 2-3 cars in the parking lot, which are probably employees. I could understand if the parking lot was overflowing onto the street with people using the library. That building and their funds cannot be justified by the amount of usage the library is seeing!!! NO MORE TAX INCREASES!!!
Libraries are a thing of the past. We now have the internet with access to everything we need at our fingertips. We no longer need libraries. It’s a waste of taxpayers money.
I’m glad Phil is the county judge.
I’m glad John isn’t the county judge anymore. He never fixed the roads always saying, “the county is broke” -Why is the county broke? Where is all the money going? Questions none of the citizens will know the answers to. If the lady wasn’t trying to get the library tax increased why was it brought up! 6 million is a lot of money… all that money invested in the library and not a lot of people use the library. How did that happen?- that’s insane! Who supports that? The library tax is the last thing that needs to be increased.
But I think Phil will do big things for Louisa.
As I stated earlier, she was not asking for an increase. The state regs require all libraries to present their tax rates to their fiscal courts…. not for approval but for their information. I understand that most citizens don’t understand how it works because Mr. Carter doesn’t understand the process either.
And to an earlier commenter, it is my understanding that the library is completely paying for all renovations out of the surplus and will NOT go into debt for it. And to the ones that say libraries are “no longer needed”, please open up the report that is linked and see what the usage is at this library as well as libraries across the state. Just because YOU don’t use a library, doesn’t mean that it isn’t used…
How much does the director make?
phil carter is jest wanting to get is hand on the 6 million they have saved up he is wasting all the county money on stuff they don’t need 50.000 to put grass on court house yard the is crazy .PEOPLE NEED TO STAND UP THE CO DONT NEED A WORK PERMIT THAT IS CRAZY THE HIS WAY OF TRY TO TELL PEOPLE WHAT TO DO
I actually checked out the tax rates. We are actually #6 in the “Real Estate” tax rate for the library behind the counties Lee, Leslie, Owsley,Perry and Robertson.
The library is a wonderful thing and i applaud all they do. My issue is why do they have $6,000.000 in reserve. If you look at your yearly real estate tax papers you give almost as much to the library (14.7 cents per $100.00 of taxable real estate) as you do to Lawrence County (16.8 cents per $100.00 of taxable real estate).
Here is a link to all Kentucky County tax Rates for 2018.
https://revenue.ky.gov/News/Publications/Property%20Tax%20Rate%20Books/Property%20Tax%20Rate%20Book%202018.pdf