A rendering of the proposed north entrance from the parking lot.
Constructed in 1927, the Pasadena Central Library on Walnut Street, one of our finest historic buildings, has been closed since May 2021 due the possibility of its collapse in a moderate earthquake.
By Sharon Hawley
Through many meetings and architectural plans over the past three years, a consensus has been reached on a detailed plan to fix the library. And the City Council has arrived at a method for us to pay for it. The retrofit will not be cheap, and the cost will fall mostly on the citizens of Pasadena. Unless voters approve Measure PL on the November ballot, the project will not happen and the library will remain closed.
The cost of the retrofit is estimated at 195 million dollars. The voters of Pasadena must approve that cost. A vote of 55% or 67% “yes” votes is required, depending on whether statewide Proposition 5 passes or fails. The population of Pasadena is about 135,000, so the retrofit will amount to about $1,450 per person. If you base your vote on this number, the measure surely will fail.
But Measure PL does not propose funding on a per person basis. Instead, it proposes that bonds be issued, to be paid back over 30 years. The bond repayment obligations will be determined based on the value of the real estate you own. Annual debt service on the General Obligation (GO) bonds, about $12 million, will be paid by an increase in property tax of about $250 per million dollars of assessed valuation per year.
Assessed value is usually the same as price you paid for the property. Due to major increases in sale prices in recent years, properties purchased many years ago are assessed much lower than similar properties purchased recently. If your property falls under the famous Prop 13, your assessed value is even lower.
Renters who do not own real estate might think they will not be contributing to the cost. But since landlords will pay higher property tax, they may pass the cost on to renters.
California tax rates are about 1.1% of assessed valuation. If you recently bought an average house in Pasadena for a million dollars, you are paying about $11,000 per year in property tax. If Measure PL passes, your tax will increase by about $250 per year.
The “new” library will not only be earthquake resistant, but it also will be better in many ways because it will be upgraded to meet modern standards. But the library will remain closed if Measure PL fails.
Leave a Reply