Sugar Grove Library will seek tax-rate hike

Sugar Grove library officials hope their recent selection of a site for a new $8 million library will influence voters to approve an operating rate increase when they go to the polls Feb. 5.

Less than a year after a fifth straight request was turned down, officials will place a question on the ballot asking voters to authorize increasing the rate to 25 cents per $100 of equalized assessed property valuation.

The library district is currently collecting about 9 cents.

For the owners of a home valued at $200,000, the increase would cost them an additional $104 in library taxes annually.

Voters approved $8 million in construction bonds in 2004 but have repeatedly turned down requests for an operating rate increase. The measure lost by 152 votes on April 17, the last time the referendum was on the ballot.

The library will be built on a 5-acre parcel on Municipal Drive just south of Route 30 in the Prairie Glen subdivision. Construction could begin as soon as spring.

"We know we will be in our new building for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, and a rate of 25 cents is appropriate for a larger facility, and for an increasing population," Library Director Beverly Holmes Hughes said.

The library serves a population of about 16,000, which includes Sugar Grove Township, except for Aurora and North Aurora, and Blackberry Township south of Seavey Road.

"I'm confident that the board and our library team have done the right thing," Hughes said regarding the site selection and building plans. "Taxpayers can see the new building is a reality. Their vote won't be based on speculation as to where and when the new library will be built. We have removed an element of uncertainty."

A new 32,000-square-foot facility will replace the existing 6,600-square-foot library at Snow and Main streets.

According to the Web site of architects Cordogan, Clark & Associates of Aurora, the concept for the new library reflects the public's desire to reflect the rural roots of the community.

For more information on the library plans, visit www.cordoganclark.com and click on "projects."