House Status:
Senate Status:
Senate Status:
Minutes for HB2176 - Committee on Local Government
Short Title
Creating the Arkansas city area public library district act and the Udall area public library district act, requiring an election for the creation of such district and authorizing unified school districts No. 470 and 463 to levy a tax on behalf of such library district.
Minutes Content for Thu, Feb 1, 2024
Jason Long (Attachment 11) provided a brief of the bill and stood for questions from the committee.
Chair McGinn opened the hearing for the HB2176.
Mendy Pfannenstiel (Attachment 12) spoke as a proponent of the bill on behalf of the library board. Benefits that the bill provides the library, if it passes a general election, is it allows the local area residents to decide how they want to fund and receive library services. Another thing the bill will allow them to do is to own property which is not the norm in Kansas. Owning property will enable them to do longer range planning for library operations.
Monica Rupp (Attachment 13) addressed the committee in support of the bill. Passing of the bill would let the library also put to a vote the expansion of the library's taxing district to encompass the school district. Currently, only 45% of patrons reside within the library's taxing district. That number would increase to 92% of residents if they received approval to expand their tax base. This would make it not only more equitable in distribution of the library funding costs but also enable them to provide better quality programs and materials in the future.
Speakers stood for questions from the committee members.
Written testimony in opposition to the bill was submitted by:
Sharon Moreland (Attachment 14), Director, Southeast Kansas Library System
Written neutral testimony for the bill was was submitted by:
Paul Hawkins (Attachment 15), Director South Central Kansas Library System
Ray Walling (Attachment 16), State Librarian of Kansas
Gail Santy (Attachment 17), Director, Central Kansas Library System
Due to time constraints and that more time was needed for testimonies, Chair McGinn left the hearing open to be continued at a future date.
Meeting adjourned at 10:25 a.m.
Next meeting scheduled for February 6, 2024.
