OFFICIAL: TOWNSHIP TO SEEK MILLAGE APPROVAL

Today, the Ironwood Township Board of Supervisors held a joint special meeting with the Carnegie Library Board. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the continuation of the current fees that the Charter Township pays to the library for services.

Margaret Rayner of the Library Board gave a brief history of the fees and the services rendered. The fee that is equivalent to 3/10 of a mil has been effect for quite a long time. So long in fact no one could remember the exact source of the fee. Bruce Noren, a member of the Library board inquired if a millage for the fee had been approved by the voters. No one was sure if in fact the millage had been passed by the township voters.

The board of supervisors will look into the issue and put the matter before the voters in time for the next election. Members of the board were concerned that the taxpayers might be confused in this matter thinking that they were approving an additional millage, which of course would not be the case. The library fees are handled as a line item and the millage is the method of funding the line item. If the millage goes before the voters and is approved no additional taxes would be incurred.

The members of the township board are looking to control their overall costs and indicated that it would cost township residents quite a bit less if they received library services from Bessemer. The current fee structure is approximately $15,000. This is in addition to the penal fees given to the library on the Townships behalf.

While the Library representatives express similar concerns for controlling costs, they failed to advise the township supervisors, that the library board, under Noren's control had spent an amount equal or greater than their contribution on architects and attorney fees promoting a renovation plan that they knew would be turned back by voters.

Next month Ironwoodinfo will be reporting on the Library fiasco that continues even now as "Not so Friendly Friends of the Library" continue to push their renovation scheme forward against the wishes of the Ironwood taxpayers.

Conspicuously absent from today's meeting was Librarian Elaine Erickson who was responsible for the ill-fated bond proposal.