Tax boosts library funds
By Mike Nowatzki, The Forum
Published Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Fargo’s half-cent library sales tax generated nearly $650,000 more than originally projected, which should take some pressure off the group trying to raise $3 million in private funds for three new libraries, a city official said Tuesday.
City Commissioner Linda Coates, who sits on the Fargo Library Board and chairs its Building Committee, said the additional funds will help offset rising construction costs.
“Every little bit will help,” she said.
The city collected $12.65 million from the voter-approved tax during its 18-month lifespan that ended June 30, city Finance Director Kent Costin said.
The total could increase slightly before the end of the year as tax returns trickle in to the state tax commissioner’s office, he said.
The estimated cost of the new main downtown library and north and south branches is $15.3 million.
On Tuesday, officials announced the membership of the Fargo Public Library Campaign Cabinet, which will try to raise $3 million in private donations to cover the balance of the library costs.
Its 13 members will solicit donations under the theme “Writing a New Chapter.”
Leading the effort is Mark A. Anderson, president and CEO of BlackRidge Financial Inc. and former president and co-founder of Community First Bankshares.
The cabinet is stocked with well-known and well-connected figures, including former Fargo Mayor Bruce Furness, Fargo Planning Commission Chairman John Q. Paulsen and Jan Ulferts Stewart, retired director of the Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation.
“We obviously wanted folks that had a history of being leaders in the community and had experience in philanthropy,” library Director Charles Pace said.
Consultant David Baker of Hodge Cramer & Associates Inc., Dublin, Ohio, recruited the cabinet’s leadership, which in turn recruited the other members, Pace said.
The cabinet has identified a lot of potential donors at varying levels of support, Anderson said. Members will start soliciting donations after their Aug. 29 meeting, he said.
If the fundraising effort falls short, the library may have to postpone some purchases and use existing shelving, furniture and cheaper building materials, Pace said.
Construction of the main library is slated to begin next spring on the site of the existing downtown library. The Northport Branch opened July 13, and work is scheduled to start in October on the south branch in Ed Clapp Park on 32nd Avenue South.
The Library Board and Building Committee are scheduled to vote on the final south branch design and review updated plans for the main library during a public input meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in the City Commission chambers at City Hall, 200 3rd St. N.
Other members of the fundraising cabinet are:
- Deb Dawson, a Fargo-based writer and former president and CEO of Dawson Hail Insurance Co.
- Marjorie Haggart, an active library user and Fargo resident since 1950 who has supported numerous community and church activities.
- Prakash Mathew, vice president for student affairs at North Dakota State University and chairman of the Fargo Library Board.
- Steve McLister, general manager of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and a board member of the United Way of Cass-Clay and the Chamber of Commerce of Fargo Moorhead.
- Michael J. Olsen, a Fargo-based communications consultant and former senior director of communications for Microsoft Business Solutions.
- Ryn Pitts, a health-care management consultant and former Library Board chairwoman who serves on the Fargo Dome Authority and NDSU Development Foundation.
- Jerry Topp, managing partner and CEO at Eide Bailly LLP, a regional certified public accounting and business advisory firm.
- Brian Walters, president of the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corp.
- Lisa Wheeler, president of The Title Company and a board member for the Pelican Group of Lakes Improvement District in Minnesota.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528
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For all the readers here's the new library. Also the planned Southpointe Library.
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