The Bartholomew County Public Library is facing a $121,000 drop in funding next year after state lawmakers cut property taxes and is weighing cost-cutting measures that would spare staff but scale back spending on books and digital materials.

Library Director Jason Hatton said he plans present a “very early draft” of the library’s 2026 budget to the library board on Monday and continue to work with board members over the coming weeks to find ways to reduce costs wherever possible.

The board expects to hold a public hearing on the library’s budget in mid-September, with final adoption expected in October.

“(We’re) still trying to figure out exactly what we will do about it, but bottom line is that for 2026 we will have about $121,000 less than we had in 2025,” Hatton said. “So, we will have to try to figure out how to make those dollars up.”

Hatton said the two biggest areas where officials can cut spending are staff and collections, which include items such as physical books, digital books, Mango Languages and databases that people can access from home, among other things.

The library generally spends around $500,000 per year on collections. Officials plan to look at usage statistics to determine where cuts could be made.

“We will be reducing the amount we spend on collections, for sure,” Hatton said. “I don’t know exactly how much or what percentage that would be. At this point, I do not anticipate any changes in staffing. We are understaffed, so I couldn’t even begin to think about decreasing (staff).”

“There will be — for sure — less physical books and digital books purchased because of that,” Hatton added.

Additionally, there is uncertainty over local income tax, which accounts for about one-third of the library’s operating budget. Hatton said he does not expect local income tax to decline next year, but “it’s uncertain for 2027 and beyond.”

Hatton largely attributed the decline in library funding next year to property tax cuts enacted under Senate Bill 1, which Gov. Mike Braun signed into law in April.

An analysis by the Indiana Legislative Services Agency found that SB 1 is expected to reduce funding for the Bartholomew County Public Library by an estimated $761,490 between 2026 and 2028, with around 83% of the cuts anticipated in 2027 and 2028. The library’s current operating budget is about $5.42 million, Hatton said.

All of the state lawmakers representing parts of Bartholomew County — Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus) and Reps. Ryan Lauer (R-Columbus), Jim Lucas (R-Seymour) and Jennifer Meltzer (R-Shelbyville) — all voted in favor of SB 1, according to state records.

Republicans — who hold a supermajority in the Indiana General Assembly — touted SB 1 as “property tax relief” and a “great win” for Hoosiers, while Democrats say it is “bait and switch” that will leave local governments with little option but to either raise income taxes or cut essential services to offset the loss in revenue.

Indiana Library Federation opposed SB 1, describing the bill as “a serious threat to the continued operation of public libraries in Indiana by undermining their primary source of funding — property taxes.”

The Legislative Services Agency’s updated fiscal impact statement shows that SB 1 would reduce public library funding by over $12.2 million in 2026, growing to nearly $16.8 million by 2028,” the federation said in a statement. “Without stable funding, Indiana libraries would face irreversible harm and jeopardize their ability to serve the public. While the intention to provide property tax relief is reasonable, the proposed changes would have significant and lasting consequences for public libraries.”

The property tax cuts under SB 1 are also impacting public library facilities in nearby counties.

The Monroe County Public Library has proposed reducing the hours of operation at its downtown Bloomington location to help trim its budget as it contends with a $300,000 decline in property tax revenue due to SB 1, The Herald-Times reported.

The Johnson County Public Library is expecting to see a $200,000 in funding next year due to property tax cuts.

“I think local governments are feeling and are going to continue to feel the burden that has been shifted by the state legislature, and so what it’s going to do is it’s going to make local governments be the quote, unquote, ‘bad guys’ for thinking about raising taxes or thinking about doing things differently or thinking about reducing services because of the systems that the state legislature put in in in place to try to fix an issue with individual property tax bills,” Hatton said.
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