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Survey says: More money for library?

Would you pay higher taxes to avoid having library services cut?

That's the queston Boca Raton residents are being asked in a survey that was delivered to about 10,000 email inboxes Monday. Although the responses won't effect this year's budget, library leaders are looking for guidance about how to proceed in lean times, said Tom Sloan, manager of library services.

"This survey identifies in considerable detail nine library services and asks them to put them in priority order," Sloan said. "It's so we can really determine which services are most important and what we need to focus on to make sure we are serving the community."

The city's tax rate, set for final approval Thursday, shows an 11 percent increase over the current year. The increase in the tax rate funds a budget aimed at covering increased city costs for pensions, employee health insurance and power.

That means allocations for other things, such as library services, must be reduced, city officials say.

The library's online survey — which can also be filled out the old-fashioned way at the city's libraries — needs to be completed by Oct. 8, well after Thursday's final budget approval. But the information, Sloan says, is valuable.

Subscribing to this survey service cost the city about $800 a year, he said.

In addition to what kinds of services they think are most important, residents also are being asked if they are willing to pay more in property taxes and how much more would they be willing to pay. One of the options allows people to choose paying more than $30 a year per household.

This year's Boca budget, if approved, will mean the owner of a home assessed at $350,000 who took Florida's $50,000 Homestead Exemption would pay about $1,055 in city property taxes, an increase of about $110 over last year.

Sloan said these are challenging times for his division.

"The demand from the community continues to grow," he said.

Right now, there are about 87,604 city library card-holders.

ageggis@tribune.com or 561-243-6624

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