Bay Area Library

Tampa Bay area parks, libraries reflect falling tax revenues

At the peak of summer, the pool at Zephyrhills’ Hercules Aquatic Center sits empty and unused — so unused that a shrub has sprouted from a drain.

Pasco County commissioners closed the pool last year, along with another in New Port Richey, because of budget constraints. Now, the county is considering shutting its remaining two pools.

Closing the Hercules pool left Zephyrhills High School’s swim team with nowhere to practice and put its future in question.

“Our team and school had to pray and wait diligently for the district to make a decision to keep swimming,” said coach Linda Vest.

The swim team now practices at the East Pasco YMCA. The dive team has disbanded.

What’s happened to the Hercules pool represents the new reality for governments in the Tampa Bay area and throughout the country — and for those who depend on them.

Stung by falling taxes, counties and cities face hard choices about their futures and an electorate often openly hostile to government spending. The result is a withering of the public sector, with more pressure on individuals to pick up the slack.

“We just cannot continue to afford to subsidize every single service we provide,” Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner said. “We don’t live in that world any more.”

The problems are echoed throughout the country. Camden, N.J., for example, plans to lay off half the police force and close a third of its fire stations to balance its budget. Colorado Springs, Colo., shut off a third of its streetlights last year to save money. Wilmington, N.C., put off buying a new fire truck, then its oldest truck stopped working during a fire.

“Every year it gets progressively worse,” said Cragin Mosteller, spokeswoman for the Florida Association of Counties.

The bright side is that, when they’re forced to make cuts, government leaders have found ways to do it without crippling their operations, said former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.

That wiggle room is disappearing fast, though.

“Today, there’s a lot less room for that because we’ve gone through this process for four years,” Iorio said. “You begin to run out of places where you can continue to shrink and still provide the quality of services people have come to expect.”

Iorio cut $124 million from the city budget during her second term, eliminating a layer of administration in the police department. The result: a more efficient operation.

EVENT: How to become a library leader without really trying ...

Guest Speaker:  Bill Kolb is a 2010 Eureka! Leadership Fellow and a library true-believer. When the Walnut Creek Library closed in 2007 to make way for the construction of the new facility, Bill was selected as the lead staff person at the small interim facility. In his time there, his unique position allowed him to learn more about hands-on library leadership as well as make significant contributions to the planning of the new building’s layout and operations. Bill is now the Teen Services Librarian at the newly-constructed library. He has worked for the Contra Costa County Library since 2006, after having followed a logical and linear career path from English Major to Fedex Courier to Stockbroker to Sports Writer. Since then, he has become increasingly interested and involved in library decision making on a larger scale, and he thinks that you can too.

Date & Time: Thursday, Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. A multi-type library association, BayNet welcomes librarians and information professionals from all varieties of organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area . Our mission is to strengthen connections among all types of libraries and information centers, and to promote communication, professional development, cooperation, and innovative resource sharing. Come join us by becoming a member . Contact BayNet at infobay@baynetlibs.org .

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