Why Kansas City Public Library is asking voters for an increase in property tax levy

The Kansas City Public Library will ask voters in November to approve an 8-cent hike in the library’s property tax levy.

The increase would generate an additional $2.8 million a year for the library’s $20 million budget.

That is less than the roughly $3 million a year the library does not receive due to tax abatements awarded to developers.

The current levy is 46.76 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Funds generated by that levy have risen less than 1 percent annually over the last decade. The last time the levy was increased was in 1996.

The new increase is necessary, library officials say, to address deferred maintenance and needed improvements to its 10 locations as well as to continue to provide services.

Library Executive Director R. Crosby Kemper III said some branches are in need of major improvements.

The Waldo branch is structurally deficient and officials are looking at a complete renovation or even razing the building and constructing a new one.

The library is considering building an outdoor education playground at the Bluford branch.

The North-East branch needs substantial renovation and possibly an expansion.

Many branches need technology upgrades and additional computers.

In addition, Kemper said the library wants to expand delivery of materials and services, including internet access, for home-bound seniors.

The library has cut staffing by 7.5 percent over the last decade through attrition, and has relied more on donations and grants.

The library is visited in person and online more than 4 million times a year. Checkouts are nearly 2 million. Nearly 200,000 people participate in adult and children’s library programming.