Passing a Library Tax Referendum by a Margin of Better Than 4-1

Jim Bradley

The Maywood Public Library in suburban Cook County passed a $6.5 million tax referendum in November 1994 by a margin of better than 4-1, a result that had not been achieved in a library taxing question in Illinois since figures have been kept by the Illinois State Library dating back to 1977. The best any tax question had ever done was by a margin of no more than two-and-one-half to one. The final figure at Maywood was 1,584-342, a 4-1 margin with 216 votes to spare. This is the story of how they did it when tax questions usually score in the mid-40 percent range of success or, just a little better than four out of each 10 taxing questions proposed statewide.

A myriad of ideas, plans and hearings that culminate in a feasibility study is usually the first concrete evidence that the library and the community is ready to move forward with a referendum plan. That plan, no matter what form it takes, must address four basic questions from taxpayers. They are, in order:

1. Is there a need?
2. How much will it cost me?
3. What will I get from it?
4. Is it practical and cost effective?

1. Showing the Need

The Maywood Public Library produced a brochure whose text began with a line that is a classic in understatement. "The present library building at 121 S. Fifth Ave. was constructed in 1905. Since that time it has undergone major renovations, but no addition of space to accommodate new services or ore people."

Here is a library that has not varied in size one square foot in 90 years but was expected to serve a population as efficiently as it had in 1905 even though that population had increased more than six fold, from 4,532 (1900 U.S. census) to 27,139 (1990 U.S. census).

A brochure is not a necessary vehicle of information, but it is handy and inexpensive, about $500 for 4,000 to 5,000 copies if you have the in-house capabilities. There also are other avenues to make the public aware that there is an ongoing effort in the community to expand local library facilities and services. However, there should be some public relations in the most positive tone that additional library services far outweigh an increase in taxes. The message can be in the form of advertising in any or all of the three major media outlets (television, radio, newspapers). Remember, the local public library is just that, a public entity, and as such it qualified for Public Service Announcement (PSA) advertising. In 1934, Congress, as part of the Federal Communications Act, determined that the airwaves through which radio and television signals travel was public domain. Therefore, to maintain their federal license, a radio or television station must devote a certain percentage of its air time to PSAs for non-profit organizations and activities.

Besides this mandated free time, radio and television stations are always looking for filler material. These are most often on the local segments or "cut away" time the network morning shows devote to the local affiliate.

A Feasibility Study

A feasibility study by an architectural firm should be undertaken that generally follows what the library board will be comfortable with in negotiations for expansion, including general guidelines for space needs and what the taxpayer might be expected to support. Such a study helps the board decide how much of an increase in size is necessary such as an addition to the present structure, rather than an entire new building, as in the case of Maywood. The Maywood Public Library's decision to make an addition to the building rather than a new structure somewhere else in the city was the most practical for them on several counts. The library already owned the present building in addition to some adjacent land that made an annex the most feasible alternative. A minimal amount of land needed to be purchased, if any, an outlay that would amount to about 20 percent of the entire cost of the project. Another major reason for staying at the current location meant that the library

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would remain geographically within the municipal complex that included the Village Hall and the Police Department.

2. What Will It Cost Me?
Can you imagine buying a new car and not knowing the price? Most people won't buy a can of corn off the supermarket shelf if there is nothing to go by but the bar code on the can. Throughout the state we have seen referendum proposals defeated by substantial margins and many times it was because the voter had no real idea of the cost to him or her.

Maywood made sure it did not fall into this trap. This is very important when considering any kind of a tax increase. Maywood's $6.7 million building bond issue took the average selling price in 1994 dollars for the median price of a home in the area and projected the cost to the average household for the 20-year life of the bonds to the penny.

Their projections came to $60.52 more in property taxes the first year, dropping to $35.21 a year in final year of the payment period. Therefore, anyone on the high or low end of the home market scale could not only estimate but know to the final cent what their individual cost would be. Also, promoters of the referendum pointed out at every opportunity that at the time of the bond sale, (Fall 1994) interest rates were at their lowest level in several years, as if to say, "It'll probably be a long time before we see the cost of money this low again, so lets not waste an opportunity that may not come along again for some time."

They were right. "We actually did a little better than $60.52 and $35.21," said Maywood Library Director Patrick R. Dewey. "It was just a few cents less, but because interest rates at the time were so low we were able to finance the project at the original projected level for 19 rather than 20 years."

When the money market works in your favor, take advantage of it. Maywood made sure its residents were aware that they probably would not see interest rates this low again for a long time. But most of the good fortune came through hard work and informing the taxpayer, exactly what the cost would be.

3. What Will I Get From It?

Director Dewey said that the Maywood Public Library for the past 10 years had been working to improve its image with the patron base of the community.

"We have always taken a long term view of gamering local support with increased and improved services and materials. Our "friends" group basically consists of just one lady, but we have always promoted ourselves as a rich community resource open to everyone, and everyone should take advantage of that resource. I think we had a pretty good image to begin with, which certainly helped. We always continued to improve our service and material base, but until now we were never able to actually expand physically. I think the vote showed that after almost a century, our people were ready for a larger library."

4. Is It Practical and Cost Effective?

How much is civic pride worth? To be practical, it usually depends on how much it will cost. The bar graph on Maywood's brochure shows that it was nearly four times smaller than the next smallest suburban library in the area, and it was more than nine times smaller than the largest suburban library in the Maywood vicinity. {This bar graph is reproduced below}. Promoters used this fact to point out that not

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a single additional square foot of floor space had been added to the library since 1905, a decade short of an entire century after the doors first opened. In the vernacular of civic pride, Maywood has fallen behind every nearby community in library service, accommodation and material capacity because we haven't changed the size of the basic structure in nearly a century. In fact, we are nearly four times behind other communities and in some cases as much as nine times behind our neighbors.

Another image of civic pride is that people like to hold on to "old friends." The 1905 Carnegie library was indeed an "old friend." Under the provisions of the building bond referendum. The Maywood Public Library would remain in the old structure until the new addition was finished, about one year following the September 1995 groundbreaking. Then the library would move next door to its new home and the old library would undergo a six month renovation. The renovation would turn the old library into three floors of meeting rooms, with one large meeting room on the third floor that would seat between 100 and 150 people. The "old friend," would remain a part of the library, eventually all spiffed-up and retaining its original tum-of-the-century charm, taking its place in the Maywood Civic Complex as a general purpose meeting area. It is obvious from these facts and the margin of victory, civic pride also played a part in the outcome. During the past quarter century, one of the biggest complaints of local citizens across America, not to mention historic preservationists, has been the rush to demolish old buildings, "old friends," for the sake of progress. Maywood avoided this too by renovating instead of demolishing, thus devoting all of the new structure strictly as a library without any meeting space.

When considering a building bond referendum, cost is always most important, and when you can break out the yearly cost over the life of the bonds to the penny for the average household, you are a step up in your promotional campaign. When you combine figures with the fact that people are not going to see their "old friend" fall victim to the wrecking ball, you are another step up. When you can show them that there is enough adjacent property owned by the city within this municipal complex to accommodate the library and thus avoid the purchase of land, you are at a considerable advantage over most communities anywhere.

Promoting the Product/Proposition

Promoting your proposition to effectively convince the majority of residents that your proposal is good for them and their families, despite the fact that it will cost them some money, is nearly impossible in today's society where a cynical attitude toward anything remotely resembling government and/or additional taxes is so pervasive.

No one said it would be easy. But no one said it would be impossible either. There are certain factors taken together that can be the next best thing to insuring success. Likewise, there are certain pitfalls and misunderstandings that can just about guarantee failure too. We will look at both of these opposing factors.

Success Rule Number I: Know Your Audience

In conducting a promotional campaign, there are basically three types of people within the market audience. There are those who agree with your proposition or who are willing to buy your new line of merchandise or will at least give it a try. This is your core group. This is where you get your volunteers to spread the word and do the "heavy lifting" so to speak. This is the third of your voter base you can count on to go to the polls and vote in the affirmative.

The second type is the "No never" category. No matter how attractive your pitch, no matter how slick and expensive your message, you're going to get "tuned out." This is the status quo group. "What we have now and what it provides is just fine the way it is. And, the cost does not justify the expense." What do you do with them? The answer is nothing, forget them. Anything short of this is wasting your time. You're never going to win them over so don't waste precious resources like money, volunteers and time. Any effort to bring them over might actually backfire into vocal opposition. This is the vote you hope stays home and does not become the third that says no, at least at the polls where it counts. As the philosopher said, "leave a sleeping dog lie."

The final type is the "show me" group. This is the third of the population that all public relations and advertising campaigns were designed to sway. This is where, if your product is viable and convincing, you achieve a majority and win your case. Ah, but how?

Success Rule Number II: Know Your Product & Exactly What You're Talking About

This certainly sounds simple enough. "If we didn't know our product or what it can accomplish for you, we wouldn't be here, right?" In the case of a library, this is why you start with a feasibility study, which shows you exactly what is feasible, in whatever manner, shape and form that may take. This is the vehicle that is expected to enable you to "know your product and what you're talking about."

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The overwhelming success at Maywood was attributed to many factors in addition to the public being well-informed.

• The cost to the average taxpayer was figured down to the last penny over the life of the bonds, regardless of the value of real estate property.

• Interest rates were at their lowest rate in more than a decade.

• Immediate ability to respond to negative information.

• Immediate ability to show that negative information was also erroneous information.

• Gaming a new library and saving the old library too.

• Advertising content, placement and timing.

• Knowing your audience.

• Appealing to civic pride.

Showing each Maywood homeowner exactly what the library addition would cost them was considered the major selling point. Usually, such issues state that the cost will be a set amount per $100 of assessed valuation.

"Great," says the average homeowner, "now I've got to spend a hundred dollars or better to get an appraisal on my house to estimate how much the new library is going to cost me." That alone is enough to make a voter wince and be inclined to vote no.

Interest rates in the Fall of 1994 were the lowest in more than a decade and twice as low as they had been on average during the late 1970s. This turned out to be a great selling point that enabled Maywood not only to show exactly what the average homeowner would pay in additional taxes, but according to Library Director Dewey, "finance the bonds over a shorter period of time (19 years) rather than 20 and still come in a few cents below our original estimate for yearly cost."

This became possible because between the time estimates of the overall cost were taken and the time for closure on the cost of money was actually committed to, interest rates dropped again. This was one of those lucky intangibles that more often than not go the other direction with interest rates climbing. In that case, the increase might spell doom for a referendum question.

Director Dewey said the only real opposition came when a rumor started that the library, adjacent to the Maywood City Park, would condemn some of the park's land for the expansion project.

"This was one of those foundationless rumors that get started," Dewey said. "We were able to quell and disprove it for the simple fact that under the law we were prohibited from annexing that land even if we had wanted it."

Getting a new library annex and saving the old one as well is another best of all possible worlds. Converting the old library into an all-purpose meeting facility was another one of those lucky strokes that probably brought out more than just library supporters. The fact that the community was able to save an "old friend." coupled with the conversion of an existing and popular building that will eventually (Spring 1996) have the latest in meeting room amenities and technology, brought out more support than would have been the case had the city spent thousands to demolish it.

The cost of the promotional campaign to pass the bond referendum was estimated at $5,000, which was budgeted by the Board of Trustees of the Maywood Library. Nearly all of it was spent on newsletter, newspaper and "shopper" advertising.

The Maywood Public Library sends a quarterly newsletter to all households and apartment addresses in Maywood. During this time of the promotional campaign, this was shortened to a six-month time frame, in which three newsletters were sent out. The majority of the expense was postage, which cost between $800 and $900 per mailing. Splitting the difference at $850 each times three issues, meant that postage alone accounted for more than half of the entire promotional budget, or $2,550. In-house printing was about another $250, according to Dewey. Add to that, $430 each for two full-page ads in the Maywood edition of the Pioneer Press, came to another $860. The ads ran on the two Wednesday's prior to the election, October 26, 1994 and November 2,1994. The Maywood edition of this paper has a circulation of approximately 4,000. Another $200 was spent on an ad in the neighboring Proviso Star-Sentinel newspaper, which has a paid circulation among Maywood residents, and another $100 was spent on a full-page ad in the local "shopper" called the Maywood Voice.

"Shoppers" are usually tabloid sized printouts full of garage, auto and personal items for sale that are found at the exit and shopping cart area of nearly every supermarket and shopping mall in the United States. Media outlets costs totalled about $4,000. The promotional campaign lapsed about $200 with, the other $800 spent on various miscellaneous expenses.

What You See Is What You Get

To paraphrase the old Rowan & Martin Laugh In line, Maywood Library Director Patrick Dewey said, "one of our key selling points during the campaign for the

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bond issue was to promote that you are going to see what your money gives you when so many times you don't." By this he meant that sometimes a new building for several million dollars which you can see every time you drive by as well as see and touch every time you enter it, is a lot more tangible and meaningful than a dime or more increase in your property tax rate for service and material improvements that few seldom ever see. Add to that the preservation of the "old friend" in an even more attractive and viable light and you more than likely have a winning combination that will win voter approval.

Then there is the open frankness of telling the public what it will cost to the penny, something few are able to do and fewer still are willing to do. The brochure, ads and other promotional efforts broke down the exact costs of each phase of the project that included:

• $150,000 for new hardware/software computer technology;

• $4.5 million for total construction and renovation costs of both buildings;

• 75,000 immediate new book purchases in addition to the regular book budget;

and

• 1.9 million that includes architect and engineer fees, interior furnishings, mill work, furniture systems and furnishings, moving costs, administrative costs and bond costs.

In addition, the promotional materials pointed out that these new services would alleviate overcrowding at the library and provide enough additional space for books and other materials for well into the 21st century, according to Dewey. The printed materials also noted that the addition would:

• Quadruple the seating capacity of the library;

• Improve and enlarge the children's department, story telling areas and associated book collections;

• Improve and enlarge the adult reference book collection;

• Provide an enhanced computer information delivery system through access to the Suburban Library System;

• Provide a local area network for greater access to CD-ROM technology;

• Provide thousands of additional books, new videotapes, CDS and other types of media;

• Provide a complete security system for books and patrons of the library;

• Provide public access computer catalogs, which will provide access to the holdings of more than 100 libraries;

• Provide an auditorium for programs and concerns; and

• Provide individual conference rooms and learning media labs.

Another stroke of good media planning that the 1994 Maywood Community Guide, a document of community goods and services published by the Maywood Chamber of Commerce, carried a color picture on its cover of the Maywood Public Library.

Summary

Even with the unexpected windfall drop in interest rates, Maywood's approach was totally practical in its inception and totally honest and revealing in its overall cost and benefit package.

The Illinois State Library since 1977 has tracked more than 650 different library referendums, and in most cases it had the opportunity to witness how the promotional campaign was handled. The State Library has seen public libraries throughout the state fail in their referendum attempts and also succeed spectacularly, but never to the extent of success of the Maywood Public Library. The others either were never able to show an urgent need, had a weak message or reached for too much. Maywood fell into none of these traps.

The Maywood Public Library Board saw what was affordable and attainable, packaged it and sold it to the voters. Add to this an iron-clad price tag that was better than any money cost in the past 10 years, and probably the next 10, coupled with an exact cost to the taxpayer and you have a winning combination. It was a combination that also preserved the "old friend" and didn't require additional land purchase. It meant that after many years, the Maywood Public Library would take its place alongside the others in the suburban corridor in Cook County. It meant that beginning in 1996, the Maywood Public Library would be second to none in size, modern equipment and materials.

*Jim Bradley, Library Development Group, Illinois State Library.

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