DISTRICT LIBRARY/SCHOOL DISTRICT S.B. 108:
ANALYSIS AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE
Senate Bill 108 (as reported without amendment) (enacted version)
RATIONALE
Under the District Library Establishment Act, two or more municipalities, except school districts that hold their regularly scheduled elections on different dates, authorized by law to establish and maintain a library or library services, may jointly establish a district library under certain circumstances. The Act defines "municipality" as a city, village, school district, township, or county, but the term does not include a school district for the purpose of establishing a new district library after January 1, 2015. In at least one location in the State, a school district and a city would like to jointly form a district library for the benefit of the residents of both local units. It has been suggested that the Act's definition of "municipality" should not exclude a school district, so school districts could be among the entities jointly forming a district library, as they were allowed to do until January 1, 2015.
CONTENT
The bill would amend the District Library Establishment Act to delete the provision excluding a school district from the definition of "municipality" after January 1, 2015.
ARGUMENTS
(Please note: The arguments contained in this analysis originate from sources outside the Senate Fiscal Agency. The Senate Fiscal Agency neither supports nor opposes legislation.)
Supporting Argument
The bill would allow a school district to participate in the joint establishment of a district library, as the Act had allowed until January 1, 2015. Libraries provide valuable resources and benefits for residents of the areas they serve, and library districts allow multiple municipalities to jointly offer library services to people across a broad region. The City of Milan currently has a library that also serves some parts of the Milan school district that are located outside of the city, but city taxpayers subsidize the cost of serving those areas. Other parts of the school district are not served by the current library, and residents of those areas must travel to Monroe, which is more than 20 miles from Milan, to use a library. Authorizing the city and school district to create a district library would allow the entire school district to be served by Milan's library, and the cost of the library would be shared by both city and school district taxpayers.
Legislative Analyst: Patrick Affholter
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.