The Albany City Council may vote Wednesday whether to join a Linn County library district if one is formed.

The council meets at 7:15 p.m. at City Hall.

So far, Millersburg, Lebanon, Sweet Home, Waterloo, Tangent and Halsey have agreed to be part of the district if voters approve one in November. Harrisburg and Brownsville have opted out, and the Sodaville City Council votes this evening.

The Albany council considered the issue Monday but reached no decision.

Library supporters have proposed a district tax rate of 68 cents per $1,000 of assessed value and suggested that Albany lower its taxing rate by a like amount.

The council has made no decision regarding cutting taxes as councilors are concerned about the money other general fund services would lose if taxes were lowered that much.

If the council reduced taxes levied by 68 cents per $1,000, the parks department would lose about $200,000 yearly while total city functions stand to lose $350,000, said City Manager Wes Hare. Public safety would be out about $9,000, but that would jump to $20,000 if the OSU extension service district is formed with a tax rate of 7 cents per thousand.

During the first year library district taxes are levied - July 2009 to June 2110 - income generated using current assessments would be about $4.5 million, according to May Garland, co-chair of the Linn Library League. The amount is more than what is paid to support existing libraries now, but she does not know by how much.

Property owners who did not want to be part of a district could not opt out. People within the city limits in North Albany would be included in the Linn district as they pay the city for library service.

All library buildings in the county would remain open, including the Carnegie Library in downtown Albany. Residents without a library such as Halsey, Tangent and Millersburg could use the library in any city.

Five elected board members would run the district with two members coming from Albany, said Garland. Candidates' names would appear on the November ballot. The board would appoint the overall director, and right now Albany librarian Ed Gallagher is the frontrunner, she said.