The Troy City Council last week passed a $141 million fiscal 2011 budget that calls for the city’s library to close by next summer. The cut comes after residents in February defeated a five-year property tax increase that city officials said would keep the library open.
At the time, officials said the tax failure would mean the closure of the library, museum, community center, and other “quality-of-life” facilities. The proposal was defeated by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.
So far, at least two neighboring cities that had reciprocal library-lending agreements with Troy said they would halt the agreement to prohibit Troy residents from using their library systems. Troy residents are also expected to lose privileges associated with the Suburban Library Cooperative, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The tax hike was projected to raise just under $38 million over five years. The city said it faces a $22 million general fund shortfall over the same period, mainly from a drop in property tax revenues stemming from declining values.
