Courthouse Space Drives Need for New Library

At each Fannin County Board of Commissioners meeting since January, library supporters have expressed many different reasons why Fannin County needs a new stand-alone library. At the March 8^th Board of Commissioners meeting, supporters talked about Fannin County Courthouse space needs, funding options and the role of a library in democracy.

Jim Webb, member of the Library Board of Trustees, a position he was appointed to by the Board of Commissioners, gave numerous examples of why the Fannin County Courthouse will need more space by 2022.  2022 is the projected construction completion date for a new library, if funds for constructing a new library are approved on the 2016 SPLOST ballot.  Webb said that numerous judges have predicted Fannin County will need to add more courtrooms soon according to projected population growth in the county.  Also he gave examples of how moving the library out of the courthouse would ease citizens’ access to essential county services.  He looked at the case of the Board of Elections.  During early voting for the March primary, around 1,400 people voted at the Board of Elections office on the 3^rd floor of the Courthouse.  To do so, they had to pass through security and up the escalators to get there.  Such heavy traffic at one time disrupts the daily work flow of the Courthouse.  If this were the number at the primaries, imagine the general election he said.  Webb also suggested that the Courthouse could turn the library space into multi-purpose rooms serving community functions like elections and Board of Commissioners meetings.  He added that a stand-alone library building can also provide spaces for ancillary Fannin County government offices as the county grows.

Since several people have questioned how Fannin County would pay for maintenance and operations of a stand-alone library, Webb presented several different funding options.  First option deals with Fannin’s $1 million bond repayment.  The bond will be paid in full by 2022, the same time that a new library would be created.  Thus, money that had previously gone into paying back the bond could now be spent on library operations.  A second option is with Fannin’s hotel excise tax.  This fund is robust and took in more than expected in 2015. Also, Fannin’s hotel tax is at 6% as compared to Helen, GA which has a hotel tax of 8%.  Webb suggested that increasing the hotel tax by 2% would not adversely affect tourism or require an extra burden on Fannin citizens and would provide enough revenue to pay for library operations. Another scenario is to develop a funding partnership with the school system as other counties do.

Cynthia Maude was the next person to speak up for a new library.  She said that the community space of a library is essential to any community and essential to democracy.  Maude then gave examples of how the library serves all groups in the Fannin community.  First the library is free.  Its resources run across the entire spectrum of the community from readers of the Wall Street Journal to those of Mechanics Illustrated.  The free and easy access to computers is there for everyone whether it is to contact friends or fill out job applications.  Maude stated that she and other citizens will vote no to any SPLOST funds for any projects if money for a stand-alone library is not on the ballot.