District Library Board approves three tax levies for Dec. 1 tax bill

Three tax levies for the Dec. 1, 2023 tax bill were approved by the Belleville Area District Library Board at its regular meeting on Sept. 12.
This is for property owners in the city of Belleville and townships of Van Buren and Sumpter which make up the district library service area.
The taxes are:
• A tax of 6.864/10th of a mill on the district’s total taxable value of $1,869,542,214, bringing in a total in the amount of $1,283,254 for operations. This was approved by voters on Aug. 2, 2022;
• A tax of 7.318/10th of a mill on all the district’s taxable value for a total tax in the amount of $1,368,131 for operational purposes. This was approved Nov. 8, 2016;
• A tax of 4.2/10th of a mill to make bond payments for 20 years on the $14 million borrowed to build the new library. This was approved by voters on Nov. 8, 2016. This year it raises $785,208.
In other business at the 47-minute meeting, the board:
• Heard a report that members of the building committee, John Juriga and Linda Priest, heard the library architect Dan Whistler say that he has designed many terrace decks and has never had a suicide happen before, referring to the April 21 suicide at the Belleville library. Whisler said welding additional railings to the existing railing is not a viable option and if the board wishes to pursue this, he recommends a complete replacement of the railing. Juriga said the request to look at options to change the deck to make it safer is an over-reaction and if someone was intent on doing this, the person will find a way. Board chairperson Sharon Peters said the terrace is a gift to this community and the library kept it closed a while after the suicide. “It was very well-used this summer,” said library director Mary Jo Suchy. “Airplanes can fall out of the sky,” Peters said, referring to the MiG crash in Van Buren Township on Aug. 13 as an unexpected thing that can happen;
• Approved $114,768.03 in accounts payable which included a $300 fee for a lecture for the Oct. 14 Harvest Fest by the Bees in the D group, the group that manages the bees in the hives on top of the library. Director Suchy said the programs for Harvest Fest at the library have been completely revamped;
• Heard Director Suchy report that Councilman Tom Fielder told her the city’s engineering firm recommended the city open up Roys Street in order to troubleshoot the sanitary sewer. She said the previous day the city was working on Roys Street, digging and digging, and trying to resolve the church’s problem. This is not a library problem, she said;
• Heard Suchy report that the storms at the end of August knocked the technology at the branch in Sumpter, as well as the main library’s analog phone lines (fax maching, elevator, fire system). She said as of now, AT&T has not come out, although the ticket has been escalated. She said the main library did not lose power and was able to serve those in the community who were without power. Juriga said he called from Key West to ask if the bees were all right after he heard about the storms;
• Learned the library was open the Sunday before Labor Day and reports that business was steady. Suchy said she was covering the youth services desk that day and was delighted in seeing how the children’s area was being used that day;
• Was presented with the 53-page Public Library Services for Strong Communities Report, the results of the 2022 Public Library Association’s annual survey that tells people’s needs and what other libraries are doing; and
• Heard Julie Kissel announce the Belleville Fire Auxiliary is holding a “Dress Our Truck” benefit dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 7 at the Belleville Yacht Club to earn money to add equipment needed for the fire department’s new fire truck, expected to be in service by the end of this year. The event includes dinner, music, basket raffles, 50/50, and a cash bar. Tickets are $30 each and include entry and dinner. Sponsorship package are available. Call Kimberly Keenmon at (734) 536-8881 for information. Suchy offered two swag bags for the raffle – one for adults and one for children.