DELAND, Fla. — Central Florida library leaders say a proposed change to property taxes on the November ballot could significantly reduce funding for library systems that rely heavily on those taxes to operate.
At the DeLand Regional Library, Volusia County Community Services Director Dr. Brad Burbaugh said the county’s library system could see a $7 million reduction in funding if voters choose to move forward with Amendment 3. He said that would amount to about 30% of the system’s total budget.
“About 98% of the budget from our library system comes from property tax,” Burbaugh said.
This fall, Florida voters will decide on Amendment 3, which would reduce property taxes for primary residences in Florida. The proposed amendment would need the support of at least 60% of Florida voters in order to pass.
Several municipalities in Central Florida have started to discuss upcoming budgets and how the amendment could impact funding. Burbaugh said the reduction could affect the services libraries provide, including programming and meals.
“All options are on the table at this point in terms of closures of libraries, reduction in force, charging for programs that we’ve traditionally offered at no charge,” Burbaugh said.
Millions of people visit libraries across Central Florida — officials said Volusia County libraries are visited by 1.3 million people each year, and staff members with the Orange County Library System said they see 1.8 million people per year.
The Orange County Library System is an independent special district, meaning it operates separately from the county. Library director and CEO Steve Powell said the system relies almost entirely on property tax funding.
“We’re thinking this is going to be pretty impactful to us, because we run our entire operation with property tax,” Powell said. “We get very little grant funding, and we don’t have a foundation in place for any private donations to come in, so this could be extremely impactful for us.”
Powell said that while library leaders are not panicking yet, they are preparing for difficult discussions.
“The one thing we are going to do is start to have those very, very hard conversations about what the library looks like and what programs and services look like across Orange County,” Powell said.