TIME4CHANGEINTROY.COM: Recent Comments

Comment on Why the Library is Expendable

2010-04-15T16:00:21Z

I am a longtime librarian at a neighboring suburban library and am very aware of this library situation. The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed that libraries DO NOT have to sell non-resident cards. Baldwin, Bloomfield Township, and Rochester Hills Public Libraries, the 3 libraries sited, DO NOT sell non-resident cards. When TPL closes, Troy residents and school children will be able to come into the libraries and use any resources in the building that are not restricted to residents only. You will NOT be able to check out material, attend registered programs, use study rooms, download media, or use online databases from home. There will be time limits and other restriction on computer usage. Even wireless capabilities will be restricted. Do not delude yourself in thinking that you will have open access to most other libraries. In difficult economic times, public libraries are at their busiest....serving their own taxpaying residents. With layoffs and unpaid furlough days for staff, shrinking budgets, and reduced hours, these area libraries are stretched to just serve their own taxpayers. Why would they take on non-residents who are not willing to support their own community library? As all libraries are grappling with severely reduced funding, taking on communities who do not support their own libraries, is simply NOT going to happen. Dream on.

Comment on Why the Library is Expendable

2010-04-14T15:38:04Z

@ Concerned Resident
I agree the library is important but priorities are also important.....If it needs to go in these financial times then maybe it should, but the thing you must also realize is that as funding dollars continue to drop for the arts, organizations are going to be forced to abandon their protective isolated mentality when the reality of sustainability and fiscal reality enter into the equation....While I respect your love for the library, as funding faulters for other libraries, they will be willing to take members wherever they can get them from after all 100% of nothing is still nothing......Just a thought!

Comment on An Opportunity that Could Be Lost

2010-04-14T11:56:49Z

They are right. This is the same thought process that got the auto industry in trouble...We have to change the model of how government operates....gone are the days of being a government employee with a high school diploma or 2 year degree and making $70k a year. I went to college and have an advanced degree and barely make that....the model has to change! Great article!

Comment on Why the Library is Expendable

2010-04-12T20:28:24Z

The public libraries in the communities you mention have the obligation to look out for THEIR residents first. They probably have little interest in taking on a huge new group of users who may take library resources away from their own residents.

If the Troy Public Library closes, neither Baldwin Library, Bloomfield Twp Library nor Rochester Library will sell Troy residents a library card. Those libraries do not sell cards to non-residents.

Public libraries are not obligated to sell library cards to non-residents. In fact, the Supreme Court upheld Bloomfield Twp Library’s decision NOT to do so a few years ago.

Therefore, the only option for Troy residents who wish to use those libraries—if the Troy Public Library closed—would be for the City of Troy to enter into a service contract with one of those libraries. To give an example of the possible cost for that service contract, the general rule of thumb is to charge non-residents at least as much as the residents of the community, and on a per capita basis. The cost a Bloomfield Twp resident pays for library service is approximately $450/year. (The cost for a Troy household is about $60/yr). The resident population of Troy is over 80,000.

The Baldwin Public Library charges the city of Beverly Hills $459,763 per year for library service. The city of Beverly Hills has a much smaller population than the city of Troy, so the City of Troy would probably be charged more for a service contract.

Do the math! You will, however, be able to pay $100 per person per year to use the Clawson Library.

It is shameful that people don't appreciate what their City has to offer and don't even bother to find out the facts, not even when it's too late.

Comment on Why the Library is Expendable

2010-04-12T12:54:40Z

just put parking meters in city/library
parking lots .

Comment on Residents Offer Cost Cutting Ideas and Ideas for Opportunities- Updated 3/6/10

2010-04-07T15:02:21Z

Most of these sound like good ideas that will save the city a lot of money. What I do not understand is why didn't they make these cuts and improve efficiency and get rid of excess staff years ago?

Comment on Police Victories Only Reinforce Regionalization

2010-04-05T12:23:43Z

if you want to see,your city at work,,,April 9th,,,JUDGE mester,,Oakland county.

Comment on Troy Public Schools Doing What City Council Isn't

2010-03-30T19:12:01Z

put parking meters at city hall and the library

Comment on Marijuana Possibilities for Michigan

2010-03-29T15:39:57Z

Why are the City of Troy $7000 drug dogs
not allowed in Troy Schools.

Comment on Marijuana Possibilities for Michigan

2010-03-29T13:29:58Z

The state is stupid to think it will raise hundreds of millions of dollars. They will be lucky to generate a million dollars.

Currently, people grow it in their basement in a 10 ft x 20 ft area (200 square feet). This creates a very small supply increasing prices. If it is legalized a farmer could plant 1 acre (43,560 square feet) and produce more than 200 times as much as a current grower. One farmer planting a small field could produce as much as 4,000 current growers. If multiple farmers planted multiple fields the resulting increase in supply would drop the price by an extremely large amount.

Additionally, part of the price now is because it is illegal. With that gone, the price would have a natural drop anyway.

I would not be surprised if the price dropped a 100 fold which would mean the taxes would generate about 100 times less than anticipated.

On top of all that, the current growers would not want to comply because they would then have to pay taxes on their earnings. Right now their sales do not get added to their Federal or State taxes. After this gets legalized, they would have to claim all of that income. Meaning they would most likely stay operating illegally to keep more of what little value their sales generate.

The actual generation of tax revenue would be pennies on the dollar for what they anticipate.