Trustees of the City of Poplar Bluff Municipal Library District have filed a lawsuit against the City of Poplar Bluff to obtain title to the library building and property after the City Council reneged on a 2014 "gentlemen's agreement" to transfer title to the Library District.
The City Council, on a 5 to 2 vote at the August 6, 2018, meeting, rejected a (title) Transfer Agreement prepared by the Library District. The proposed agreement was based on verbal promises made at a Council meeting on June 2, 2014.
At the 2014 meeting then Interim City Manager Mark Massingham explained that the Library District had passed a quarter-cent sales tax in 2012, had "eliminated" the small property tax effective at the end of that year, and had become "its own entity." He said the Library District had requested title to its property, but such a transfer must wait until a bond issue, in which the library building was listed as collateral, was paid off in 2018.
Unfortunately, after passage of the sales tax, the city either negligently or purposefully, failed to collect the Library District's property tax for that last year (2012) even though the sales tax collections did not begin until Oct. 1. That first sales tax revenue was not received by the Library District until 2013.This caused the Library District to operate in a negative balance and, as a result, the city provided funds to maintain Library District operations.
When the Library District asked for title to the property in 2014, the city claimed the Library District owed more than $576,000, which included the uncollected property taxes for 2012 (the city's responsibility) and an amount the city claimed was "lent" to the Library District from 2008-2012. After lengthy negotiations, during which neither party was represented by counsel, the Library District agreed to a five-year lease on its property for $1 a year and signed a payment memorandum in which it agreed to pay the city nearly $490,000 in five annual installments. The last installment was paid on October 2, 2018.
The central consideration of the negotiation process that caused the Library District to approve the payment memorandum had been the understanding and "gentlemen's agreement" that the city would transfer title to the property on completion of the payments.
In actuality, the city never "lent" money to the Library District. For many years, because of the inadequacy of the property tax, the city frequently had supplemented the Library District budget, but the money never had been considered a "loan." No promises to repay were made by the Library District Board of Trustees, nor did the City request repayment.
In a newspaper account of the June 2, 2014, meeting, DAR Associate Editor David Silverberg quoted Massingham as saying to the Council that after the payments were completed in five years, and the bond issue was paid off, "then we will transfer the building and parking lot to the Library."
Both the lease and the payment memorandum were finalized by city ordinance at the next Council meeting on June 16, 2014. During the five-year completion of $489,786.88 in payments to the city, the Library District also has expended more than $866,000 to pay for all utilities, insurance and maintenance on its building.
During the August 6, 2018, meeting at which several City Council members expressed the need to keep title to the library property so it could be used again as collateral for a bond issue, City Manager Massingham explained that the Black River Coliseum represented far more than adequate collateral and that the library building was not needed in that capacity. He was ignored by the Council.
The Library District actually needs title to its property so that it will have its own collateral for future expansion of services. For example, the Library District's Board of Trustees has discussed the possible need for an additional facility to serve the growth area in the northwest part of Poplar Bluff.
Poplar Bluff citizens organized the public library more than a century ago. In 1936, public funds built the original brick building, which is proudly listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1995 voters approved a sales tax that funded a doubling of the building's floor space. Mrs. Kay Porter donated $1 million, augmented by $150,000 in other local donations, which funded extensive building renovation and improvements completed in 2008. In 2012, local voters approved by a 74-percent margin a one-quarter-cent sales tax that finally adequately funded Library operations.
All those milestones listed above strongly indicate the loyal support by Poplar Bluff citizens of what often is described as one of the best libraries in a comparable city anywhere in the Midwest.
The sales tax funding effectively has relieved City Hall of all monetary and operational responsibilities for the Library District. Under Missouri law, the Library District's nine trustees form an independent board charged with hiring and firing directors and overseeing all library functions. The City's only current involvement is the appointment of the Library District's Board of trustees by the mayor and City Council for staggered three-year terms.
Respected among librarians throughout Missouri, the Library District offers cutting edge quality service. An average of 400 patrons use the library daily and some 200,000 items are borrowed each year. Through Internet connections and cost-sharing with 43 other libraries, patrons have access to more than 3 million items, as many as any St. Louis County resident in their own library.
Public computers and WiFi help patrons access job applications, email their families, research genealogy, and do homework. U.S. passports are available daily. Other services include reading programs and story hours for children, computer classes, free printing for school homework assignments, music events, book clubs, national exhibits and lectures by renowned authors.
Library cards are offered free to all residents of Butler and adjoining Missouri counties, representing the citizens of the trade area who support the Library District through the sales tax. Schoolchildren and teachers with E-Library cards have 24/7 access to checkout privileges through digital connections. Top employers and professionals use the library to train their employees and present programs through use of the latest technology.
For more than 100 years the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library has provided for the cultural, educational, economic and many other daily needs of Poplar Bluff area citizens. Holding title to its property will be essential for the Library's continued service to the region in the future.
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John R. Stanard, the former co-owner/editor of the Daily American Republic, is serving in his 20th year as a member of the board of trustees of the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library, currently as board treasurer.