Bethel Township library tax increase

The question asks Bethel Township voters whether to raise the annual library tax from .027 mills to .037 mills. The tax is on all taxable real property in the Township and supports the Rachel Kohl Community Library. At .037 mills the tax would cost $3.70 per $100,000 of assessed value a year, $1.00 more than now. The official statement says this would give the Library tax revenue from the Township of just over $5.00 per resident, the level needed to qualify for Quality Libraries Aid from the Commonwealth. A YES vote approves the increase, and a NO vote means the rate does not increase.

In 2006 voters in Bethel Township instituted an annual tax on the assessed value of all taxable real property situated in Bethel Township at the rate of .05 mills, which equates to $5 per $100,000 of assessed value, to support Rachel Kohl Community Library (the "Library Tax"). In 2021, when Delaware County reassessed the value of all taxable real estate, state law required the Township to reduce the Library Tax millage to .027 mills. At the current rate of .027 mills, the Library Tax costs $2.70 per $100,000 of assessed value annually. The purpose of the foregoing question is to determine whether the Township should increase the Library Tax to .037 mills. The proposed rate of .037 mills would cost $3.70 per $100,000 of assessed value, an increase of $1.00 per $100,000 per year. This would provide the Rachel Kohl Community Library (the "Library") with a total tax revenue from Bethel Township of just over $5.00 per resident in Bethel Township, which is the level required throughout Library's service area to qualify for Quality Libraries Aid, a form of additional funding from the Commonwealth.