A Study of Public Library Referenda in Illinois

Stanley E. Adams and Jim Bradley

Introduction

Referenda questions have held an important role in the creation and development of public library service in Illinois. The recent emergence of the public library district by conversion or establishment, in large part, has been the result of a successful local referendum. Many libraries faced with financial questions have used the referendum for a tax increase, a bond issue, or a maintenance tax with mixed success. The referendum also has been widely used for annexation purposes. To date, however, little documentation (other than an annual comparison of bond referenda) has been found in the literature on the use of referenda by the Illinois public library community.

Following Richard Hall's annual review of national public library referenda for 1993, "Referenda Set a Record," LJ for June 15, 1994, a study was conducted by the Library Development Group of the Illinois State Library to see what sort of track record library referenda have held in Illinois. This was the first time that an extensive report was to be done on the voting trends on library issues. The search produced some 660 public library referenda on public library related questions in Illinois for the 17 year period covering FY1978 through FY1994.

Data on Illinois referenda was found in a number of sources. Illinois State Library consulting staff had tracked various types of local library referenda held in the spring and fall since FY1977-78. Project PLUS (Promoting Larger Units of Service) data had also been collected since FY1972/73. The Library Research Center, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, data collected on public library annual reports was limited in scope, however, since that data did not reflect the total number of referenda held within a given period of time. The source did give results by type and size of population served by the concerned libraries.

This report has two parts: a summary and an appendix. The summary provides an overview of the data by type of question; time of year; and success and failure rates. Referenda comparisons are made by types of libraries; population groups; and with school bond referenda success/failure rates. The appendix provides more complete tallies of some of the same data presented in the summary; however, there is additional data for the reader who is interested in a more complete picture of Illinois library referenda.

It is our hope that the information gathered for this report will benefit the library communities by a gain in voter support. For other readers, it should provide a capsule of recent public library history.

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SUMMARY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY REFERENDA
REFERENDA BY FISCAL YEAR

EVEN VS. ODD-NUMBERED YEARS (1986-1994)

Even - 62% success rate
Odd - 53% success rate

• Overall, library referenda have an 11% better chance of passage in even-numbered years than in odd-numbered years.

• More tax increase referenda were held in fall of odd-numbered years and only achieved a passage percentage of 33% overall.

• Establishment of public libraries passed in 3 out of 3 cases in spring of odd-numbered years but failed as many times in even-numbered years.

SPRING VS. FALL (1986-1994)

Spring - 60% success rate
Fall - 57% success rate

• More referenda are generally held in spring (249) than in fall (221); however, the only type of referendum held most frequently at that time is the annexation type referendum.

• Overall, referenda have a 3% better chance to pass in spring than fall elections.

• Referenda More Successful in Spring

Bond Issue 72% vs. 50% Maintenance Tax 60% vs. 43%

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• Referenda More Successful in Fall

Establishment of Public Library 75% vs. 50%
Establishment of Library District 91% vs. 67%

• Referenda With Equal Success in Spring or Fall

Conversion to District	87% vs. 83%
Annexation	61% vs. 62%
Working Cash	50% vs. 50%
Tax Increase	39% vs. 41%

• Bond Issues

1. Although more bond issues have been decided in fall, the success rate has been higher for those held in spring; however, in odd-numbered years chances are about the same in spring or fall.

2. Success Rates

Even (Spring) - 75% Odd (Spring) - 67% Even (Fall) - 45% Odd (Fall) - 53%

• Types with highest success rates (in order of success rate)

1. Establishment of a Public Library District questions have had the largest degree of success with 80% overall passage faring well in either spring or fall.

2. Establishment of a Public Library - 26 out of 33 referenda winning approval, or 79% of the cases.

3. Conversion to a Library District - 39 of 51 received an approval (76%).

4. Project PLUS (Promoting Larger Units of Service) - (FY1972-FY1993) 110 out of 152 were successful, or 72%.

5. Annexation -100 out of 165 approved (61%).

6. Bond Issues - 72 out of 127 approved (57%).

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• Types with lowest success rates

1. Maintenance Tax - 5 out of 13 successful (38%).

2. Tax Increase - 81 out of 192 successful (42%).

3. Working Cash -1 out of 2 successful (50%).

• Tax Increases are very difficult to pass with only 42% of tax referenda passing overall.

• Working Cash Fund - Only 2 referenda for a working cash fund were reported. This type of referendum was probably underreported.

PROJECT PLUS REFERENDA

• This category was tracked for 22 years (FY1972-FY1993) and had an approval rate of 72%. A total of 110 out of 152 were successful. No Project PLUS elections were held in FY1979 and FY1983.

• Success rate has remained high with passages outweighing defeat each year of balloting except in FY1977 when 3 out of 5 failed.

• To date, library referenda have been held for libraries with less than 50,000 population in their service area; none were held in libraries serving 50,000 or more persons.

• The overall passage rate of all library referenda changed very little during the five year period a decrease from 53% to 51% success rate.

• Establishment of a Public Library District - All referenda were held for libraries with populations of less than 10,000 persons. 5 out of 6 passed.

• Tax Increase - 7 out of 7 referenda held in libraries with less than 1,000 persons were successful; however, 10 out of 13 held in population categories of 3,000 to 25,000 failed.

• Bond Issues - Most bond issue decisions occured in libraries with populations of 10,000 to 25,000 (7 each year) with 10 out of 14 passing overall. Similarily, most tax increase decisions were made of libraries in these population groups but had a record of failure for 18 of 26 total.

• Annexation questions, as well, except in two instances, were in libraries smaller than 25,000. Out of 41 tries, 18 succeeded. In FY1993, 10 out of 17 were approved.

• Conversion to Library District - 4 out of 6 conversion referenda were carried to success.

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BY TYPE OF LIBRARY (FY1988 and FY1993) • Passage Rates Compared

• City libraries - held more referenda than previously, but the success rate decreased to 33% from 56%.

• District libraries - maintained the lead in having the largest number of referenda held moved from fifth to fourth place in passage rate (from 44% to 48%).

• Village libraries had twice the number of referenda held earlier and had an even higher rate of success (from 60% to 70%).

• Township libraries - number of referenda fell from 12 to 2 and were successful in both cases.

Rate rose from 75% to 100% success.

PUBLIC LIBRARY VS. SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDA SUCCESS RATES • Success rates

	Tax Increases	Bond
Public Libraries	42%	57%
Schools	37%	66%

A COMPARISON OF PUBLIC LIBRARY AND SCHOOL DISTRICT TAX AND BOND REFERENDA PASSAGE RATES FY1978/FY1994

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*Stanley E. Adams, Special Projects Consultant, and Jim Bradley, Library Development Group, Illinois State Library

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