Voters voted "yes" on Issue 20, giving Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library a boost to one of the levies supporting its operations.
They also approved Issue 19, a renewal to the levy supporting basic operations at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens.
Library levy
The Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library is funded via two separate county property tax levies. The one that was up for renewal had previously been 1 mill. The library's board of trustees approved an increased ask in July that will add another .5 mill to that, costing property owners a total of about $43 a year per $100,000 of property valuation.
The levy that was up for renewal represents about 21% of the library's budget. Voters first passed it in 2009. Another levy not up for renewal approved by voters in 2018 provides money mostly for capital improvements.
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The levies bring in about $20 million each for the library. Had Issue 20 failed, the library would have lost one of those two revenue streams.
The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber opposed the increase on the grounds it would place a greater tax burden on county residents and because the library did not consult the business community.
Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library Executive Director Paula Brehm-Heeger told WVXU earlier this year that costs for the library have gone up as state funding for Ohio's libraries has dwindled.
Money from the Ohio Public Library Fund provides 57% of the library's operating funding. Many systems across the state rely on more local funding.
The state funding source has been shrinking, Brehm-Heeger said.
"Over the course of the last decade, they have been generally trending down," she said. "They're unpredictable. We really need to have stable and consistent funding. These dollars are about making sure that's possible."
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Meanwhile, the library's costs have risen. The business model behind incredibly popular e-books isn't favorable to the library, Brehm-Heeger said.
"I could buy a paperback copy of a James Patterson book for $5.99, put in circulation and people could check it out until it fell apart," she said. "E-books, we don't own that content and in most instances the publishers have licensing agreements that charge libraries at a rate that is higher than the retail price. And many publishers have built in an expiration date on the licensing."
About 56% of voters approved the boost, according to preliminary results from the Hamilton County Board of Elections.
Zoo levy
About 68% of county voters approved the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens' levy renewal.
The .46 mill levy that was up for renewal costs homeowners about $9 per year per $100,000 of valuation on their homes and raises about $7.3 million for the zoo. The levy has been in effect since 1982.
The zoo sought a boost to the levy this year, but Hamilton County commissioners declined to put that on the ballot.
Zoo Vice President of Marketing and Visitor Experience Chad Yelton told WVXU earlier this year the money goes toward basic functions — food and medical care for animals and staff salaries.
Forty years ago, the levy covered 40% of those operational costs. Now it covers about 17%. Yelton says like everyone else, the zoo has felt the crunch due to inflation. Expenses covered by the levy have gone up 79% since the last hike 15 years ago.
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Hamilton County commissioners cited an increased tax burden on property owners as the reason for declining the zoo's requested .57 mill hike and a smaller .48 mill increase.
Recent levies from Preschool Promise, Cincinnati Public Schools, the library, the county's parks system and other county services have put a strain on taxpayers, they argued. Increasing property valuations were also in the equation, Commission President Alicia Reece argued.
"We're getting ready to have assessments where people's property values are gonna go up, meaning their property taxes are gonna go up," Reece said when voting against the additional levy in August.
A report by consultants Howard, Wershbale and Co., found the zoo is a careful steward of its finances, including tax dollars. The report also suggested the zoo could weather the coming years without additional tax revenue due to strong admissions revenue and other funding sources.
"The result of our analysis indicates that even if operating results decrease from current levels and the current levy is renewed without an increase, cash flows are expected to remain positive. This is an indication the current financial outlook does not support an increase to the levy," the report states.
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Zoo leadership, however, has pointed out that inflation has been severe in the recent past and the levy hasn't been increased since 2008.
The zoo saw 1.73 million visitors in fiscal year 2023, according to the consultant's report, a rebound from a sharp dip during the pandemic.