LIBRARY PATRONS DOWN MERGER PLAN

JACKSON -- Voters Tuesday overwhelmingly defeated a plan to merge the Jackson Public Library and Riverside Regional Library.

The issue was defeated by 1,030 yes votes and 1,859 no votes. In the Jackson Public Library district the vote was 464 yes and 500 no, and in the Riverside district it was 566 yes and 1,359 no.

County Clerk Rodney Miller said 16 percent of eligible voters turned out -- a healthy number for a one-issue ballot.

Jackson library board president Terri Tomlin was near tears when the totals were announced. She, along with more than 30 others who supported the merger, spent last week distributing fliers and trying to educate voters about the issue.

"I'm just appalled," Tomlin said. "I thought there were more progressive people out there. I'm not certain what happened."

Mayor Paul Sander said a strong anti-tax sentiment defeated the issue. Under the two library boards' plan, taxpayers in the Riverside Regional Library district would pay 10 cents more per $100 assessed valuation in taxes each year and taxpayers in the Jackson Public Library district would pay 5 cents more per $100 assessed valuation.

The money would have been used to build and operate a $1.5 million library in Jackson City Park.

People from four Cape Girardeau precincts overwhelmingly voted against the tax increase since some of them pay their existing library tax plus a fee to use the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

"The voters have spoken, and I have the utmost respect for their decision," Sander said. "It was just another statement people are making that they don't want to pay any more taxes. I respect that."

He said the two boards should continue to meet to explore other reasons why the tax was defeated and come up with a plan voters could accept.

But Riverside board president Roland Sander said he doesn't expect the issue to return.

"I think this was a one-shot affair, and I think the voters missed a good opportunity for a good library," he said.

Either way, it is back to the drawing board for representatives of both libraries. Jackson Public Library will be left alone in the City Hall-Public Library building when city offices move to a new building. The building isn't suitable for remodeling into a larger library and likely will be sold soon.

A state law passed in 1965 limits the tax base for city-operated public libraries to residents living within the 1965 city limits. The law was meant to encourage the growth of regional libraries, but it ended up stifling the growth of some smaller city libraries.

Jackson can't tax its residents any more than the current 13 cents per $100 assessed valuation for its library.

Riverside has some growth issues to face, too; the library's current building in Jackson is too small and offers too little parking, Roland Sander said. If Jackson Public Library closed, Riverside legally would have to absorb Jackson's patrons.