By Andrew Coen
A recent study by Levinson's office revealed that library property tax rates imposed on homeowners in 2005-06 vary from an average of $166.10 in Lawrence to $668.10 in neighboring Hewlett-Woodmere. Levinson also said that his study revealed that homeowners in the Lakeview and Roosevelt public library districts, the two highest-taxed districts in the county, pay more to take out a book than they do for police protection.
Since the amount of commercial property in a community affects the share of property tax that a homeowner is obligated to pay the library district, Levinson has proposed that a percentage of the commercial property tax base be shared by districts in each of Nassau's three towns, Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay. Levinson said that would help lower a homeowner's portion of the property tax burden for libraries in communities like Hewlett-Woodmere, Roosevelt, Lakeview, Freeport and North Merrick, which all have very small business districts.
Levinson also encouraged all library boards of trustees to establish a countywide commission to work with representatives from the New York State Comptroller's Office, the Department of Education, the Legislature, and towns to create a new system of funding libraries that would be a model for counties throughout the country.
The Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library, which has the third-highest tax rate in the county, faces the challenge of a low commercial tax base and paying off a bond approved by voters in 1995 to renovate and expand the facility, which, according to the Nassau Library System, offers the most square feet of library space per capita in the county. "The dilemma of the situation is when you spread that tax base out, you will benefit some but hurt others," said Susan de Sciora, director of the Hewlett-Woodmere facility. "The libraries are a very small part of a much bigger problem."
The Peninsula Public Library in Lawrence, which services District 15, has the fourth-lowest tax rate in the county, thanks mostly to large commercial businesses like the Costco Wholesale store in North Lawrence, which ease residents' tax burden. In contrast to their Five Towns neighbor in Hewlett-Woodmere, the PPL facility is the second-smallest in Nassau County in terms of square feet of library space per capita, according to the NLS, which also contributes to the low tax rate, according to Levinson.
"We do as much as we can with the money we have," said PPL president Joseph Fuller. "We try to maximize as much bang for the buck."
Levinson said in an interview that even if PPL officials are successful in building a new state-of-the-art facility in Zion Park in Lawrence, their tax rate will not be impacted too much. "I don't think the taxes will jump anything too big because they have so much commercial value," said Levinson.
Fuller said he opposed Levinson's idea of library districts' sharing the commercial property tax base in the Town of Hempstead, since it reduces the revenue from the businesses in District 15. "It would kill us," said Fuller. "I don't see that happening anytime in my lifetime, so I'll let somebody else worry about it."
Forty-three of the 52 libraries Levinson studied are run by local school districts, with the other nine considered a special town district included on the general tax bill. Some Nassau County villages like Malverne, East Rockaway, Lynbrook and Valley Stream do not have tax rates for their local libraries, and instead fund the facilities through the annual budget for the municipalities, which Levinson sees as advantageous for taxpayers.
There are also some small districts, such as Millbrook, South Lynbrook-Hewlett and North Lynbrook, that do not have their own facilities but contract for library services in a community. For example, people who live in the South Lynbrook-Hewlett district, which consists of the area of Hewlett within Lynbrook school district boundaries and the un-incorporated section of Lynbrook, pay taxes to use the Lynbrook Public Library.
"I think the way the villages do it is the way to do it," said Levinson.
Levinson said that while he does not blame the individual libraries for the funding disparities, the institutions should be subjected to frequent and intense scrutiny by appropriate government agencies at the state and local levels to ensure that taxpayer money is being well spent.
"It would be great to find a more equitable way to fund libraries and other taxing jurisdictions," said Gerald Nichols, who heads the Palmer Institute for Library Organizations and Management at LIU-C.W. Post. "There are inequities for all local taxing jurisdictions."
Comments about this story? acoen@liherald.com or 516-569-4000 ext. 210.
