Library, Pool Would Close Under Budget Plan

Updated at 3:30 p.m. with comments from Powder Springs Mayor Pat Vaughn

Two Powder Springs facilities—the pool and —would close by May 1 under Cobb County Board of Commissioners Chairman Tim Lee’s budget-balancing plan, the Marietta Daily Journal is reporting.

Out of the 17 libraries in Cobb, 13 would close under the plan, the MDJ says. Powder Springs' pool is one of two that would be shut down—the other being the Sewell Park pool in Marietta.

Powder Springs Mayor Pat Vaughn said she understands that cuts have to be made but was surprised to hear about the library.

"It’s a major surprise to me," she said, "and I didn’t know it till I read it in the paper ... I would really hate to see the library closed, and I hope that is not in their final decision."

Lee’s proposal to close a deficit this fiscal year, estimated at more than $31 million, also includes three senior centers, the Mable House amphitheater, and cutbacks to other services. Each county department would be asked to cut its budget by 3.5 percent, and the millage rate would rise by 0.5 mil for the fire fund, costing the owner of a $200,000 home $40 a year.

A millage rate increase could also be a last-resort effort to save the library, Vaughn said.

"No one wants to ever raise a millage rate, but you want to weigh it out," she said, adding sometimes citizens might be willing to pay a little bit more to save a public facility. 

County commissioners plan to enact a plan Tuesday morning to eliminate the for fiscal 2011, which runs through Sept. 30. Sinking property values, now expected to fall 7 percent on average in this year’s assessments, have produced the budget gap.

A tax increase would defy the consensus the commission reached March 22 after a budget work session, when only West Cobb Commissioner Helen Goreham spoke in favor of considering raising taxes.

East Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott held two town-hall meetings on the budget in the past week and a half and did not waver in his opposition to a tax increase.

“What we have to do once again is make sure we are using our assets as efficiently as possible,” Ott said Wednesday night at a meeting in Smyrna. “You have to look at the cost of the services being provided and are we giving something away, because we just can't afford to do that anymore.”

Powder Springs’ pool was included in the latest Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax referendum, which on March 15 and is set to begin on Jan. 1, 2012. The referendum called for $1.5 million to be used for , including the pool being moved from the park to .

It was unclear Friday if the pool would be shut down until the SPLOST funds become available to move it. Park officials and commissioners could not immediately be reached for comment.

Vaughn said that since the project was listed in the SPLOST referendum, it would probably be temporarily closed until the new one is built. 

While acknowledging that the pool is a loved resource for some in the community, Powder Springs Youth Baseball Treasurer Richard Bloedow said it was a “hindrance” for the baseball league.

Bloedow mentioned how there is “very limited parking” at the park, which includes seven baseball fields and a parking lot right next to the pool.

“You’ve got premium parking taken away,” he said. SPLOST funds will be beneficial for both the league and pool-goers because the pool, while in a different location, will still be open, he added.

On Wednesday night, Ott floated the idea of alternating opening days for libraries near each other, but he did not talk about closing libraries.

He said he spent Wednesday going through the budget suggestions submitted by the public, “and by far the most comments are on libraries.”

“I would say generally the comments are that during these hard economic times, it's where people can go look for jobs, get on the Internet,” Ott said. “There are a lot of services, and I think the board recognizes that.”

Vaughn said she wasn't aware of the Powder Springs Library's operating budget since it's run by the county. She added that she would be speaking with Lee about what the costs are and seeing about some alternatives, such as reducing hours, instead of shutting it down completely. 

Elected mayor in 2004, Vaughn said the construction of a new city library to replace the old one on Marietta Street was one thing she campaigned under. The library was finished in 2007, with the city and county splitting the construction costs. 

“This has been our baby, and we have worked so hard and contributed to this library being built."

The mayor called the library a "needed" facility, noting those who don't have Internet and the children without cars who come to it. 

Helen Poyer, director of the Cobb County Public Library System, sent out an e-mail message Thursday to library supporters, urging them to lobby commissioners to protect the libraries. The note warned that Lee’s plan would keep open only the Central, Mountain View, South Cobb and West Cobb libraries.

The board is under no obligation to enact Lee’s plan but needs to take some kind of action on the budget Tuesday.

One option to attack the deficit is to furlough the county’s 4,239 full-time workers, rather than giving each department the option to decide how to cut a certain amount. Each furlough day is worth $671,871 for the general fund, Finance Director James Pehrson said last month.

To put that in perspective, two furlough days would save about the same amount of money as closing the 13 libraries for five months.

Citizens are asked to send their feedback on the proposed budget here.

Patch will cover the Board of Commissioners’ meeting live Tuesday morning at 9.