By Jonathan Babalola, Noblesville Daily Times
jbabalola@noblesvilledailytimes.com
Westfield's grand plan for a new, north side library took a huge hit Thursday when a state panel failed to endorse the $16.9 million project.
The five-member Indiana Tax Control Board voted 4-1 against the 57,000-square-foot proposal because it could not justify the building's proposed price tag and the impending taxation on the city's residents.
"It was pretty disappointing," said Sheryl Sollars, Westfield's library director. "I'm at a loss for words."
Several members of the tax panel stated they have turned down bonds for far less money and thought the project - which is slated to be built on 10 acres between 191st and 196th streets at Tomlinson Road - would need to be reassessed.
The suggested action by the board will now head to the office of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, where Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave and her staff will hand down a final verdict.
Though the number of people who spoke for the proposal greatly outnumbered those who voiced their opinions against it, the panel said it was the pleas of officials such as City Council President Ken Kingshill, along with fellow councilors Robert Horkay and Melody Sweat, which assisted with the decision.
"We're in a tax reform climate where the state government has loudly and clearly told local governments to control spending," Kingshill said. "Then we have a non-elected board trying to get this bond through and, as an elected official, I couldn't stand for it."
Kingshill, who is also a member of the Grand Junction Task Force, the city's chief downtown advocate group, said he is among the many people who are for the library idea but want it closer to the heart of the city as part of its downtown master plan.
Musgrave has six months to decide on the issue but Sollars said if the DLGF agrees with the tax board, the proposal would come to a screeching halt.
"We're going to wait for the final decision, but if she gives us a denial, then I guess we'll have to start all over at some point," Sollars said. "The project would pretty much be dead at that point."
Jose Beyer, a Westfield resident who led a failed remonstrance effort late last year against the library, said this is a major step in the right direction.
"I'm very pleased ... though I'm surprised at why they turned down the bond," Beyer said. "We hope the library board will start cooperating and work with us in finding a good place."