The Detroit Public Library is vital to our community. Vote to keep funding it.

This one’s a no-brainer: On the Aug. 6 primary ballot, Detroiters should vote YES on PROPOSAL L to approve a 10-year renewal of the Detroit Public Library’s operating millage.  

The 3.9943-mill levy will expire on June 30, 2025. Proposal L doesn't enact a new tax, but simply extends the life of the existing millage, which generates 85% of the library’s annual $38.9 million budget. If it isn’t renewed, library administrators say, the consequences would be dire.  

The library operates 18 branches across 139 miles, offering fundamental programs and services to Detroiters. Alongside the 2.5 million items available to the public through the library — including books, e-books and video games — residents also have access to more than 900 public internet computers, 300 laptops that residents can check out, and free Wi-Fi at its branches.

Library administrators note with pride that the library’s far-flung branches reflect the diversity of the 139 square miles it serves — offering, for example, manga and other graphic novels in demand with younger readers, or Spanish-language books at southwest Detroit branches.  

About the millage:Detroit library could add $3.2 million to coffers if millage passes

The library operates independently of the city, and is governed by the Detroit Library Commission, but the City of Detroit collects and distributes its tax levy. Detroiters must renew the millage every 10 years. Proposal L would reinstate the current property tax of 3.9943 mills per $1,000 of taxable property value. For a home with a taxable value of $40,000, that’s $160 per year.  

This millage renewal does have a twist: It would make funds generated by the levy exempt from tax captures, a tool that allows local governments and their development authorities to capture a portion of property taxes for economic development projects. According to data provided by the library, tax dollars co-opted from the library’s budget for tax captures increased from $3.4 million in 2022 to almost $4 million in 2023, primarily by the Detroit Downtown Development Authority. Protection from tax captures could add around $3.2 million to the library’s budget in the next fiscal year, allowing the library to upgrade its buildings and increase its program offerings. 

A DDA official told the Free Press last week that losing the library tax capture might imperil the authority’s development work, but Eric Lupher of the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council, pooh-poohed that notion: "There's going to be continued need for the DDA to operate, but I don't think they can argue that they are resource constrained in any way. The tax capture is significant and is growing and will continue to grow. Losing the library millage from what they can capture ... is not insignificant, but (the DDA will) do just fine," Lupher told a Free Press reporter. 

The Detroit Public Library is a vital part of our community. Detroiters should take this opportunity to preserve and protect its continued operations.  

Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters and we may publish it online or in print.