‘No on Library Tax’ News

Yard sign for the 'No on Library Tax' Campaign

This post was updated on Nov. 23 to add new information.

Convinced that a library tax initiative will qualify for the ballot in 2026, opponents announced they intend to turn their informal efforts into a full-fledged campaign committee.

To that end, they have submitted paperwork to the Fair Political Practices Commission, according to Wally Nowinski, one of the leaders.

Nowinski, along with co-campaign leader Barbara Chan, spoke to about 50 people on Nov. 20 at the Arlington Community Church, the sixth meeting organized by the group. He said efforts to persuade El Cerrito voters not to sign petitions to put the tax initiative on the ballot were below the financial threshold for needing a campaign committee.

However, now that the library tax initiative seems headed to the ballot, opponents led by Nowinski and Chan intend to form an opposition committee, raise funds, recruit volunteers and launch a campaign to defeat the measure.

After the discussion, yard signs were offered to attendees who wanted to donate.

The meeting took place before people knew that supporters of the library tax initiative had ended signature gathering and submitted petitions with 2,468 signatures to the city earlier on Nov. 20. To qualify, initiative proponents need valid signatures from 10% of the city’s registered voters – about 1,780 signatures.

The signatures now need to be checked by the City Clerk. (See related story.)

Chan and Nowinski restated their seven concerns about the proposed library tax and added some new details.

One major concern is that the tax is subject to annual inflation increases. The City Council could increase the tax every year based upon the Bay Area Consumer Price Index or the per capita income growth in the state, whichever is higher. Over the past ten years, the Bay Area CPI was about 4.5% each year, Nowinski said.

Another concern is that if approved, the tax will start being collected whether or not any work has started on a library. Nowinski said the library and the affordable housing building it’s part of are in Phase 6 of the developer’s plans to build 743 new apartments. There is no guarantee of when construction might start, Nowinski said.

Opponents have claimed the plan is a developer handout disguised as a library project. If the project goes forward, it’s a better deal for the developer than for city taxpayers, Nowinski said.

“The plan is for the city to prepay to build a library space,” he said. “Then when it’s built, we will have to lease the space back and we pay debt service on the amount we prepaid.”

“It’s a bad deal,” Nowinski said. “This plan is not going to get us a good library that we can be proud of at a reasonable cost anytime soon.”

Following are some questions and comments from the meeting.

Question: “Did they ever do an investigation of what it would cost to renovate the old library?”

Chan’s reply: “One of our researchers tried to get copies of all records and investigations but was told they would have to go through boxes. The boxes were not made accessible to us.”

Question: “Could we show people the craziness of this proposal by showing that there are better sites?”

Chan’s reply: “Right now we have to stay focused on stopping this bad deal. We want to force the city to go back to the drawing board and listen.”

Question: “How is it this does not require a two-thirds vote?”

Nowinski’s reply: This use of a citizens’ initiative (that can be passed with 50% plus 1 vote) is a workaround to Prop 13 that has been tried seven or eight times around the state. It has been challenged in court. One court in California has struck it down but others have not. It has not made it to the Supreme Court.

Question: “How do we persuade friends who love libraries to understand that this is not a good plan?’

The question was discussed but not resolved.

An audience member said the headline and subhead on the group's flyers articulates the correct message:

“No On Another Forever Tax

Libraries are good. The Plaza Library plan is not.”

The group also added a calculator to its website where people can calculate how much they would pay for the proposed library tax over 30 years.

View the website here.