Two tax-hike questions on proposed Villa Park library project

Villa Park voters can expect to see two questions on their ballots this November asking for more tax dollars to build and maintain a new library.

Library officials decided this week to seek a second referendum question asking residents to approve a tax rate increase.

The money would pay for the additional costs in running a new $20 million, 45,000-square-foot facility -- a project which also will require voter approval this fall.

"The consensus of our board was that we should be open and honest with the community," Villa Park Library Director Sandra Hill said. "With a building twice the size, there will be more expenses in operating the site."

The first library ballot question, which would ask voters to give the library district permission to build the facility, would cost the owner of a $250,000 home roughly $136 a year.

Hill said the second question to fund operations would cost the owner of a $280,000 home about $62 a year. If passed, the measure would provide the library with an additional $480,000 in annual operating revenue to run the new building.

If built, the new building would replace the existing library at 305 S. Ardmore Ave. Plans call for the new building to be built south of the existing one.

Library officials said the project is contingent on the library negotiating a land swap with St. Alexander Catholic Church. The library also would need to purchase a nearby medical office and retail building.

The new facility would have space for 144,000 print titles, quiet study rooms, group study rooms, more space for computer work stations and separate youth, adult and teen services areas.

Hill said she realizes the library's request will be a tough sell come this fall.

In recent years, several DuPage County communities, including Carol Stream and Winfield, have run failed campaigns urging voters for more tax dollars to expand or build new library facilities.

"During hard economic times is when people need the library the most," Hill said. "What we're hoping to do is become a stronger presence in the community."