Southwest Greensburg residents on Tuesday will decide whether 1 mill of the borough’s real estate tax will continue to help fund the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library.

Southwest Greensburg Council says the roughly $15,000 generated by 1 mill of the town’s 28-mill tax can be better spent on borough needs. The council sent a letter to residents urging them to vote in favor of Tuesday’s referendum that would repeal the library tax.

“All of our municipalities around here are struggling for money,” said council Vice President Bob Warren. “We do understand the library is a very important thing for the area.”

He said the borough of a little more than 2,000 residents has been hit with rising costs for health insurance and had to borrow $400,000 — at 4.79% interest over 20 years — to leverage $1 million in state gambling funds for construction of a new public works garage.

Warren said the borough last year raised its tax by 3 mills to help balance a general fund budget of $929,800 while also continuing to support the library.

Citing tax documents, the council noted the library had a net income of about $431,000 in 2022.

“Their finances are in better shape than ours,” Warren suggested.

“It is clear to us that 1 mill of taxes is more significant to the borough and its residents than it is to the library,” the council letter states.

Jamie Falo, director of the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library, countered that the library also faces financial challenges, including a nearly 11% increase in its health insurance costs and the impact of inflation on the cost of books and other purchases.

She clarified that the library’s 2022 income included grants, bequests and endowments, all of which were one-time sources of revenue that will not be repeated.

“We are very sympathetic to the issues they are experiencing,” Falo said of officials in Southwest Greensburg. “But in turn, by doing this, they put a tremendous burden on the library if funding is eliminated by the borough.”

This year, Falo said, state funding contributed $236,000 toward the library’s operating budget of $883,500. According to a complex formula, she’s learned, the state funding will be reduced by $11,000 next year — as a result of a decrease in the poverty level measured by the school lunch program in Hempfield.

The loss of tax revenue from South Greensburg would decrease state dollars for the library further, she said, since local financial effort also is figured into the funding formula.

Since 2016, Falo said, borough residents collectively have saved the equivalent of more than $1.4 million, based on the value of items they’ve checked out from the library instead of purchasing on their own.

This is the second time in three years Southwest Greensburg voters have considered abolishing the library tax. In November 2022, borough voters rejected that move by a margin of 506 votes to 432.

That’s why council issued the letter this year, with its message to residents, according to Warren. Two years ago, he said, “We didn’t get it out there well enough.”

Prior to the 2022 referendum, a message posted on the borough Facebook page urged voters to vote to repeal the library tax.

That post drew criticism, including from Rege Garris, then a member of the borough’s zoning board, who questioned the propriety of the borough’s lobbying in favor of the referendum.

Borough Solicitor Gary Falatovich at the time said he considered the post in question to be an explanation of the ramifications of the referendum, rather than an attempt to lobby voters.

Borough voters initially approved the library tax by referendum in 2017, as did Greensburg city voters. The proposed tax was rejected in Hempfield, South Greensburg, New Stanton and Youngwood.

Falo pointed out the library receives other municipal funds, in the form of budgeted contributions from Greensburg and Hempfield. She said Youngwood covers utility bills while hosting a branch library in its borough office complex.

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