26,013 / 51.0% Yes votes ...... 24,989 / 49.0% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Financial Implications
The proposed tax rate would limit the annual cost for an average 1,900 square foot home to $292.60 in FY 2005-06. It is estimated that the tax will cost residential taxpayers no more than the following average amounts during FY 2005-06:

Square Feet	Annual Tax
1,200	$ 184.80
1,500	$ 231.00
1,900	$ 292.60
3,000	$ 462.00
10,000	$ 2,331.00

s/MANUELA ALBUQUERQUE, Berkeley City Attorney

The measure will allow the Berkeley Reads Literacy Program to double the number of adults who will be taught to read each year, improving their economic prospects and those of their children.

The Library Parcel Tax has enabled Berkeley to maintain its tradition of excellent libraries for 24 years. The Central Library, since its recent renovation, has experienced a dramatic increase in use; Berkeley now has one of the busiest libraries in California, checking out over 1.5 million items each year. However, due to both the state budget crisis and increased operating costs, it is no longer possible to provide the same outstanding level of service. Berkeley has been forced to cut hours, book budgets and other services. Increased revenues will restore these services to their previous levels. The additional cost to homeowners with a 1900 sq. ft. home will be approximately $41 per year; lowincome homeowners will be exempt. Funds from this measure will be available to restore services in July 2005.

s/TOM BATES, Mayor, City of Berkeley
s/AMY ROTH, Chair, Keep Libraries Alive
s/JORGE GARCIA, Chair, Board of Library Trustees, Berkeley Public Library
s/RANKO YAMADA, President, Berkeley Public Library Foundation
s/DARRYL MOORE, Trustee, Peralta Community College Board

• The library now costs nearly $300 per typical taxpaying household. Measure L asks for a 16.5% per cent increase, on top of a 13.9% increase taken last year, and an overall 45% increase over the past five years.
• The City Auditor says the Library Board has failed to control runaway costs. The Board agrees to put the Auditor's recommendations in place, but instead of waiting for the results, again comes to the electorate for a bailout.
• There is no end in sight. Measure L provides automatic, annual increases to the library tax far in excess of actual inflation. By 2015, a homeowner who now pays $300 per year will be paying at least $542.
• We haven't been told the whole story. These figures exclude:

  - $1,200,000 borrowed from the City to cover previous cost overruns
  - the library's exposure in a $6,000,000 lawsuit now set for trial, and
  - $17,000,000 in capital improvements scheduled in just two years. Berkeley has been generous to a fault. We all want a good Library: but it must live within its means, must be well managed, and must serve the residents of this city.

s/GORDON WOZNIAK, Councilmember
s/JIM HULTMAN, individually and on behalf of, Board Member, LeConte Neighborhood Association
s/GREGORY HARPER, individually and on behalf of Block Captain, Stanton Street Neighborhood Association
s/ROBERT C. BAUM, individually and on behalf of, President, Blake and California Streets Neighborhood Association
s/BETTY J. HICKS, Treasurer, San Pablo Neighborhood Council, individually and on behalf of Oregon Street Neighborhood Watch

Berkeley's library is a cherished institution. It also enjoys enormous inflation-protected revenues. In 2004, the library collected $11,272,200 in taxes, 13.9% higher than in 2003, and a 45% increase over the last five years. The City wants to increase the tax rate by another 16.5% in 2005, and by at least 5% every year thereafter. The total cost would be nearly $300 per year per average homeowner.

Why are things out of control? The cost of living is only marginally higher than in 2003. Personal incomes have fallen. Berkeley's population continues to shrink. Why have library costs increased so much? Why are we threatened with Sunday closures?

The answer is fiscal mismanagement:

• The Library's Board is effectively accountable to no one.
• The City Auditor has found gross failures to follow standard accounting procedures. Often, purchase orders do not even include an amount: they are simply rubberstamped, leaving it to the individual employee to fill in the blanks. In many cases, expenditures are made without required approvals, and without competitive bidding.
• There are nearly 160,000 Berkeley Library cards in circulation: most of these are issued to non-residents.
• Library staff is bloated, and salaries and benefits are grossly in excess of the private sector.
• New projects are begun (like an adult literacy program which will cost more than $300,000 per year), while existing programs suffer because of alleged funding shortfalls.
• The board has also abused our trust by a 13.9% retroactive increase in the 2003-04 tax rate, when the law limited the increase to only 2.5%

Vote No on Measure L. This is the only way to make the Library Board accountable to the people.

s/GORDON WOZNIAK, Councilmember
s/ELEANOR PEPPLES, individually and on behalf of, President, North East Berkeley Association Board
s/LAURIE BRIGHT, individually and on behalf of, President, Council of Neighborhood Associations
s/DEAN METZGER, individually and on behalf of, President, Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association
s/MICHAEL WILSON, individually and on behalf of, President, Berkeley Property Owners Association

FACTS about the Library:

• City Council appoints the Board of Library Trustees, sets its annual tax increases, approves its budget, and holds it accountable to Berkeley's residents.
• 1.5 million items are checked out each year - one of the highest in the state. Award winning services - Children's, Teen and Literacy - keep Berkeley reading! Your $41/year increase protects these services.
• The City Auditor's report to Council praised the library for "requesting this audit and the many significant steps implemented even before the issuance of the report." It identified no gross failings.
• The Library's reduced hours and collections are the result of the City's higher salaries, benefits' costs and retirement costs, in turn caused by unanticipated statewide economic conditions, not Library fiscal policy or management.
• Last year, Berkeley residents used over 57,600 Library cards, about 60% of the total used annually. Moreover, over 1 million items, about 70% of the total, were checked out by Berkeley residents.
• Total Library staffing remains static, though the downtown Library doubled in size. Salaries are comparable with other libraries in the region.
• Measure L would double the 1987-initiated Literacy Program's number of people served, at less than $278,000/year.
• City Council legally and appropriately approved the 2003 tax increase to protect your library services.
• Your Library preserves your democratic freedoms and access to information.

s/LONI HANCOCK, Assemblymember
s/BETTY OLDS, Councilmember
s/DARRYL G. MOORE, Trustee, Peralta Community College Board
s/JEANIE L. RUCKER,
s/LAURIE CAPITELLI, Candidate, District 5

BE IT ORDAINED by the People of the City of Berkeley as follows:

Section 1. That Berkeley Municipal Code Section 7.56.030 is amended to read as follows:
7.56.030 Imposition of tax.
There is hereby imposed a tax on the square footage of all improvements in the City of Berkeley, except where the improvements are otherwise exempt from taxation by Section 7.56.100 and/or Section 7.56.035 of this chapter.

The rate of tax for the fiscal year 1989+90 2005-06 to support the usual and current expenses of operating the City of Berkeley Library Services shall be, is increased 5.7 percent over last year's rate, and is hereby fixed and apportioned upon the square feet of improvements, as defined below:

A.$0.1540 For all dwelling units, the tax shall be imposed at the rate of $0.0761 per square foot of all dwelling units; and.
B. $0.2331 For all industrial, commercial and institutional buildings, the tax shall be imposed at the rate of $0.1151 per square foot of all other taxable buildings.

Section 2. That Berkeley Municipal Code Section 7.56.040 is amended to read as follows:
7.56.040 Limited authority of City Council to annually increase the tax hereby imposed to reflect cost of living and personal income growth increases.
A. The City Council of the City of Berkeley is hereby authorized to increase the tax rate authorized by this Ordinance by up to 5% annually. Subject to the conditions of subsection B below, the City Council of the City of Berkeley is hereby authorized to increase the tax rates imposed by this chapter.
B. The City Council may increase the taxes imposed hereby only upon a finding that the cost of living in the immediate San Francisco Bay Area, or personal income growth in the state of California, as verified by official United States economic reports has increased; and the increase of the taxes imposed hereby shall not exceed this verified increase in the cost of living in the immediate San Francisco Bay Area, or personal income growth in California, whichever is greater.

Section 3. That Berkeley Municipal Code Section 7.56.120 is amended to read as follows:
7.56.120 Increase appropriations limit.
Pursuant to California Constitution Article XIIIB, the appropriation limit for the City of Berkeley is hereby increased by the aggregate sum authorized to be levied by this special tax for each of the four fiscal years from 2000- 01 2005-06 through 2003-04 2008-09.