As a McCandless resident and employee of Northland Public Library, I am disturbed by the city of Pittsburgh's paltry annual pledge of $40,000 to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Assuming a city population of 300,000, that is 13.3 cents per resident. The excuse I've heard is that Pittsburgh gives more than that because the library receives money from the Regional Asset District. However, RAD is not funded by Pittsburgh, but by the 1 percent county sales tax, which is paid by every resident and visitor.
Most county residents support their own local library, pay the county sales tax (which goes into RAD) and pay state taxes. We don't claim that paying one or two of those means we can skip paying the third. This means that most county residents pay about 13 cents less than city residents to support the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, yet also support their own local libraries by paying dollars per resident.
Why is Pittsburgh not able to do this for its own library? Why are the county and state residents financing its library while it pretends it's paying more than it is? Wilkinsburg manages. Why not Pittsburgh?
I am happy to support Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. However, I am not happy to keep supporting it in lieu of Pittsburgh's support. It is time for Pittsburgh to step up to the plate, change its calendar from 1895 to 2009, and stop pretending that $40,000 is anything but an insult to those who do pay for their own libraries.
MEGAN PARK
McCandless
Posted
Nov 05 2009, 09:49 AM
by
Susan Mannella