LIBRARY REESTABLISHEMENT; CHARTER TWP. H.B. 4119:
SUMMARY OF HOUSE-PASSED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
House Bill 4119 (as passed by the House)
Sponsor: Representative Luke Meerman
House Committee: Local Government and Municipal Finance
Ways and Means
Senate Committee: Local Government
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Charter Township Act to allow a charter township that met certain requirements provided by the Act to reestablish and maintain under the Act a free public library established as a township library under a repealed act that served the charter township.
Under the Act, a township board of a charter township in a county with a population of more than 750,000 but less than 2.0 million that has not been located within the service area of an established free public library for the previous three years may establish and maintain a free public library.
Under the bill, the township board of a charter township could establish and maintain a free public library if the township met the requirements described above, or it could reestablish and maintain a free public library established as a township library under a repealed act that served the charter township.
A board must establish a library by adopting an ordinance or passing a resolution as provided by law, and filing a copy of the ordinance or resolution with the Department of Education within 10 days after adoption or passage. The bill specifies that these provisions also would apply to reestablishing a free public library.
The Act specifies that a free public library established and operated under the Act is a public library for the purposes of the State Aid to Public Libraries Act (which governs cooperative libraries and the State aid for participating libraries). Under the bill, a reestablished library also would be considered a public library for the purposes of the State Aid to Public Libraries Act.
MCL 42.13a Legislative Analyst: Nathan Leaman
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on the State. In those townships that created a library under the bill, the bill would increase local unit expenditures by an indeterminate amount, depending upon the operational costs of the libraries. The bill potentially would increase revenue to some local libraries, to the extent that it would reduce the requirements necessary for establishing a free public library, and would make the library eligible to receive per capita distributions of certain penal fine revenue. To the extent that any library created under the
bill would be eligible for State aid, the bill would reduce the revenue received by other libraries in the State by an indeterminate amount.
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.