Vote yes on library tax

There's no better value for the taxpayers than public libraries. Libraries are like universities for the common person - and they're necessary for democracy. What other institution asks us for so little but gives us so much?

The Campbell County Public Library wants a small property tax hike to fund a new branch in Alexandria. Voters will get to decide on Election Day whether to approve the tax, and it's quite a bargain. Supporters point out that the tax would cost the owner of a $100,000 house only $20 extra per year. But most folks in Campbell County don't even have a $100,000 home - so for you, it'll be much less than $20.

We're constantly bombarded with ads that try to induce us to buy designer polo shirts and call dial-a-monster hotlines. Isn't a few dollars a year on a library a much better use of our money?

I don't think we'd be talking about this if Campbell County Fiscal Court hadn't fumbled so spectacularly. Fiscal Court could have easily found money in the county budget for the new libe. But instead they pre-clear every budget item with the Tea Party. The unelected Campbell County Tea Party (which boasts all of 6 fans on its Facebook page) has been granted veto power over every public expense. Although the violent Tea Party claims to be fiscal watchdogs, it is their actions that have forced the library to propose the tax hike.

Yet the Tea Party has led the opposition to the hike even though it wouldn't even be an issue if it wasn't for them. They spread misleading, unverifiable talking points and attack library employees' pay raises. Evidently, they expect library workers to work for free.

If the tax is rejected, a significant chunk of the county will probably lose their libe. The Alexandria branch is likely to be built either way, so one suspects that one of the branches in the northern half of the county would be on the chopping block if the tax hike loses.

Given America's free-floating panic over higher taxes - fanned by self-anointed budget watchdogs who only end up costing taxpayers more - can we really expect the tax hike to pass? I'm not optimistic, but I'm confident about my stand. Taking the tax hike to the people is well worth the effort.

Hopefully, if the tax passes, the library won't view the tax as a license to censor Internet access on its public computers. But the fight against censorship would be a separate fight from the battle to fund our library - and it would be fascinating to see how the discredited Tea Party reacts then.