Wheeling library hopes voters make tax hike permanent

Wheeling library officials are hoping voters will extend a tax rate increase they first approved back in 1995.

Back then voters approved a 3-cent rate increase to repay a $3.8 million loan that funded a two-story, 14,000-square-foot expansion of the library at 355 S. Schoenbeck Road.

The library will finish paying off the loan this year, but want the tax increase — and the $500,000 it generates every year — to stick around, said Indian Trails Public Library Director Tom Simiele.

“It’s fair to say if approved, it will become permanent,” said Simiele, the library’s director since September 2009. “But since I’ve come here, we’ve been very careful about our spending and I hope this will last a few years.”

The 3-cent rate increase means the owner of a $200,000 home pays an additional $18.50 a year in library taxes. In April, voters will decide if they will continue paying that $18.50 a year permanently.

“We’re talking about the price of a really good pizza,” said Simiele. “It’s not a lot of money.”

If approved, the library plans on reconfiguring some rooms to make space for quiet study areas and rooms for teens, Simiele said.

“We are in the process of hiring a teen librarian to help serve that population,” he said. “Right now teens really have nowhere to hang out. They literally have one sofa and four computers near the adult section.”

The library also would build a small addition for meeting rooms near the front of the building.

Voters also approved a tax rate increase in 2002 to help the library expand services and add to its collections, as well as electronic services. According to library officials, the district has avoided budget deficits by leaving staff positions vacant for months and by dipping into reserves.

These days libraries like Indian Trails are busier than ever because of the sluggish economy, said Simiele.

“People who used to go and rent movies at Blockbuster come here now,” he said. “People job hunt at the library and use our Internet.”

Indian Trails even has free Wi-Fi available 24 hours a day in their parking lot.

“I came into work at 8 a.m. today and there was someone in our lot working in their car,” Simiele said.

Last year, Indian Trails circulated 1.3 million items and more than 40,000 people visit the library every month. The library serves residents in Wheeling, Buffalo Grove, Prospect Heights and Arlington Heights.