By james art 
The mayor of the parish of Eastern Baton Ruzh Sid Edwards said on Tuesday that if his plan diverted the funds to the parish library in other areas, it is unsuccessful, the city market can reduce about 600 jobs and reduce services.
“Dead people cannot read books,” Edward said at a press conference on Tuesday, citing his plan to devote additional funding to the police to dealing with crime. “We have a problem at Baton Rouge.”
Edwards later explained that the evaluation of 600-work was a rough projection.
“If that doesn’t happen, we cut services,” he says. “It’s crucial [moment] In the history of Baton Rouge. “
Parish city operates approximately 4,500 people-the administrative director of the number Charlie Davis says it is inappropriately a large workforce.
Earlier this month, Edwards announced a plan to relocate the self -funded budget of the library received from its own ownership tax in the parish common fund. This move aims to redirect some libraries to ensure significant increases in pay for police officers and deal with other priorities.
As part of the plan called Revive EBR, Edwards suggested a redirection of library funds in the city for payment for drainage and road improvements, mental health services and other initiatives. The plan will reduce the library’s annual budget from $ 65 million to $ 38 million. Edwards and his spokesman Falon Brown have compared the $ 65 million library budget with a $ 43 million budget for the Dallas library system and the $ 38 million budget in Nashville.
“I like books, but I like people more,” says Edwards. “No service will be cut off from this library system. The services will remain the same. “
Even with the budget of $ 38 million offered, East Baton Rouge Parish’s library system will still receive $ 17 million more than the next largest library system in the state -neans.
The expected operational budget of the library system for the year is approximately $ 65.1 million. The system expects to have a $ 92.7 million balance balance by the end of the year, which includes the full budget, with other funds allocated for capital improvements.
The EBR revival plan is structured in one -off distributions and repetitive revenue.
The proposal includes a one -time distribution of $ 75.4 million, which contributes to a total of $ 104 million in one -off funds aimed at improving critical services.
Repeated debt repayment revenue, combined with Millage funding, amounts to $ 68.6 million to support the basic community services.
The main distributions from one -off funds include:
- Public Safety ($ 9.5 million): At least $ 1 million each for the community police, a prevention of youth violence, a special band’s special group, the Gardere initiative, a conversion of the Brave Cave facility and additional support for district prosecutors and the defender’s services.
- Education (1.5 to $ 2.5 million): Financing to transition the initial start and increase of salaries for their employees.
- Economic Development ($ 11.5 million): It includes $ 7 million to $ 7.5 million for the River Center reconstruction, at least $ 2 million to deal with food deserts and another $ 1 million for a Blight reduction campaign.
The plan also indicates $ 21 million repetitive revenue for parish priorities, including mental health and homelessness services, drainage, maintenance and beauty of the road and public safety. The investment in public safety will amount to approximately $ 10 million, including raising police salaries and expanding efforts for police department in the Community.
The Vice President of the East Baton Rouge Donald Luther parish library noted that the library plans to reduce its mill from 11.1 mills to 10.5 mills. The 10-year specialized property tax expires at the end of this year.
“We would like to sit with your money because these numbers are not added to our numbers,” Luther says. “There is a real dilemma in the missing numbers that you all come up with. Two plans cannot continue in the same vote. If your does not work, this is a potential problem that can devastate our library system. “
The Metro Council must approve the plan before being placed in October for public voting.