Bartholomew County Public Library officials are expressing concern about a new state law they say imposes unique budget restrictions on public libraries that could open the door for local governments to dramatically cut — or even eliminate — their funding.

The concerns stem from last-minute language added to House Bill 1406 that requires libraries to seek binding budget approval from their fiscal bodies or accept uniquely low budget growth limits. The language also eliminates a previous cap that prevented fiscal bodies from cutting a library’s budget by more than 10% in a given year — meaning, at least in theory, that a fiscal body could now defund a library entirely.

Gov. Mike Braun signed the bill into law on Thursday. State lawmakers representing parts of Bartholomew County — Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus; Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus; Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour; and Rep. Jennifer Meltzer, R-Shelbyville — all voted in favor of the bill.

Locally, library officials said they are concerned about the impact that the bill could have on the library funding, especially after the passage of Senate Enrolled Act 1 last year, which cuts the amount of property taxes available to taxing units, including libraries. The Bartholomew County Public Library’s fiscal body is the Bartholomew County Council.

Initial analyses found that SEA 1 is expected to reduce funding for the Bartholomew County Public Library by an estimated $750,000 over three years. The library saw a $100,000 decline in property tax revenue last year. Its current operating budget is around $5.86 million.

“With this new legislation, (HB) 1406, and then compounded with the SEA 1 … it’s just, it is a lot for the library. It’s really going to hit us hard,” said Bartholomew County Public Library Assistant Director Vanessa Martin, who is also the Indiana Library Federation’s Advocacy co-chair. “We’re always looking at our resources and services that we offer. But compounded with all of these things coming into play, we’re concerned about what our budget is going to look like for the future.”

What the law does

The new provisions revolve around the state’s maximum levy growth quotient, or MLGQ — a figure set annually by the state that caps how much local government units can increase their property tax levies compared to the previous year. The current MLGQ is 4%.

Under the new law, any library seeking a budget increase that would result in its property tax levy going up by more than half of the MLGQ must submit its proposed budget and property tax levy to its fiscal body for approval before Sept. 2 of each year.

Missing that deadline would carry steep consequences. A library’s property tax levy would automatically be set to 49% of the previous year’s levy — a far steeper penalty than the 80% that applies to other local government units.

Under the previous rules, the library director would propose a budget and work with the library board to ensure it is correctly allocated, officials said. The board would then hold two separate public meetings — one for a public hearing on the proposed budget and another to adopt the budget. The county council would generally not be involved in approving the budget.

Now, the county council is required to get involved unless the library decides to adopt a budget that is less than half of the MLGQ.

Singling out libraries?

Supporters of the new law say it strengthens accountability for taxpayer‑funded institutions, noting that library boards are appointed rather than elected.

Critics counter that the legislation singles out libraries for restrictions that other local government units with appointed boards are not subject to. They also argue that the language was inserted into the bill without being heard in committee or holding a public hearing.

Locally, the Bartholomew County Public Library accounted for 2.5% of the county’s overall property tax levy in 2026, according to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.

Lauer, who voted in favor of the bill, said the new law adds accountability and oversight to the library budget process.

“All that means is that the county council can have some input into that budget if it’s increasing over a certain amount,” Lauer said. “It doesn’t mean they have to take any action. It doesn’t mean they have to approve or deny it, but it does give some new accountability to the taxpayers. …It gives more oversight through the county council on how our tax dollars are spent. …This will give the county council a little more skin in the game to work with our libraries across the state.”

“Our libraries (in Bartholomew County) are run well,” Lauer added. “I don’t think that this would be an issue for Bartholomew County. There are certainly other places across the state probably where some of this language came from. People in other parts of the state are frustrated with their libraries.”

Library oversight

The Bartholomew County Public Library is governed by a seven-member volunteer board that sets policy, oversees finances and hires a library director to handle library operations, according to the library’s website. Board members serve four-year terms and are limited to four consecutive terms. All members must live within the library district.

While the board members are not chosen by voters, they are appointed by four different bodies of elected officials.

The Bartholomew County Commissioners, Bartholomew County Council and Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. School Board each appoint two members, while the Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. School Board appoints one member.

Additionally, the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance ensures that library budgets and tax levies comply with state law, and the Indiana State Board of Accounts conducts financial audits of public libraries.

Library officials said they believe public libraries already have enough oversight and that there is a process for elected bodies to appoint or remove board members.

”We’re really disappointed with this legislation,” Martin said. “We worked really hard this session to make connections with our with the legislators at the state level, and we just, hoped for a better outcome. And then some of the language that got snuck in at the very end was it was just so disappointing because it had not been heard in committee. It had not had a public hearing, and it kind of came out of the blue.”

Northside Middle School eighth-grade students who had been waiting for months to see what had become of their wing during the Envision 2030 renovations were at the grand reveal Friday, and they weren’t disappointed.

Northside is undergoing $50 million in renovations—the second largest project of the Envision 2030 facilities plan, which involves improvements to school facilities and learning environments across the school corporation.

“That’s where the pool was?” one student said in disbelief walking past a new multi-purpose space. “This is so exciting,” another student said as they walked towards the new wing for the first time.

The students may only be spending one semester in the new wing, but that didn’t stop their enthusiasm as they toured their new area and got ready to say farewell to the learning arrangements they’ve been dealing with since August.

The work at Northside won’t officially be finished until July 2027 but contractor Meyer Najem Construction has made sweeping progress thus far.

The work involves full renovations of classrooms, converting the former pool into a multi-purpose space, a new main office, two new shared science labs and improved security measures. Also encompassed are newly designed common areas for teams on each grade level and a renovated main gymnasium.

The new multi-purpose space is mostly finished, but will serve as three temporary classrooms while the seventh-grade wing renovations are taking place before retractable bleachers are put in.

As students head off to spring break, school employees will be hard at work moving furniture into each classroom in the eighth-grade wing, and installing the variety of technology that defines learning in today’s day and age including ViewBoards, which are basically 80-inch touch screens.

Northside Principal Evan Burton attended the school as a student and is in his fourth year as principal after serving as assistant principal for seven. He said the experience of showing off the new wing to students is among the most exciting things he’s been able to do during his time as an administrator.

“They have not seen any of it other than pictures throughout the year, so the reaction’s pretty cool” Burton said of students. “I love coming in here because it just feels like school. It just does. But you don’t know how much better school can feel or how dated school feels until you see it another way.”

Burton was taking students to the new three-level wing team-by team, but provided a look at the seventh-grade wing as of now to give a sense of the changes.

The original uniqueness of the seventh- and eighth- grade wings remain, including the exposed red brick and orb light fixtures.

Northside, built in 1961, is the product of a design by architect Harry Weese, who is credited with designing more Columbus structures— 14, according to the Columbus Area Visitors Center — than any other noted architect. The building was inspired by the old Mooney Tannery factory that used to be in Mill Race Park area. An addition to the school was completed in 1992.

What’s noticeably different at first glance is the amount of natural light in the new wing, common team spaces on the courtyard sides of every hallway and fresh-out-of-the-package furniture. The hallways are wider even though they weren’t expanded, stairs not nearly as steep and lockers aren’t nearly as tall as students don’t carry as many textbooks as they did in the past.

Some teachers already have their names on their classrooms, and will be steadily moving their belongings to their new rooms over break. Burton said he had been bringing teachers through the new wing often over the last couple of weeks.

Eighth-grader Natalia Guerra called the renovations “majestical” saying the reveal exceeded her expectations.

Guerra said the hallways in particular were much more spacious. Kinley Hill was happy to see how spread out the layout was, a welcome change.

A couple students—who will remain unnamed—said the influx of light in the new classrooms will make it hard for them to fall asleep in class compared to their previous arrangements.

Georgia Watkins was impressed with the new common areas, with another student mentioning how they will help build more of a community within teams.

The seventh-grade wing renovations will take place next school year from August to December. The other wing will take a lot less time comparatively because contractors won’t need to focus on filling in another former pool space.

“It’s really been unbelievable,” Burton said, summing up the morning. “I know all of the projects are night and day different, but it is a totally different space in every sense.”

Northside isn’t the only school passing Envision 2030 checkpoints over break. Smith is opening a wing that houses programming for students in the district with special needs.

Schmitt Elementary School, although not technically part of Envision 2030, is nearing the end of its renovation work. Fifth- and sixth-graders moved into their new spaces recently. New technology will be installed over break, plus new furniture will arrive. Students will move out of temporary classrooms in the gym, with the final work at Schmitt focused on STEM, art and music classrooms on the south end of the structure.

City officials are moving forward plans for what will be a 17-unit affordable housing project located on the southwest corner of 14th Street and Hutchins Avenue.

Columbus Plan Commission members on Wednesday night forwarded a favorable recommendation to the Columbus City Council regarding a request by Volunteers of America Ohio & Indiana to rezone 26,571 square feet from planned unit development (PUD) zoning to Residential: Multi-Family (RM) to allow for the housing development, which will be called Hutchins Crossing.

Rezoning requests must be approved by Columbus City Council members over two meetings to be finalized. The request may come before city council as early as April 7.

The subject property is currently a part of the United Way and Sans Souci parking lot. The idea is that VOA—one of the largest nonprofit developers of affordable housing—will subdivide off a 0.61 acre parcel to build the 17-unit development.

The existing PUD zoning was created in 1989 as a means of consolidating the corporate headquarters and manufacturing facilities of Arvin Industries. The PUD was modified in 2002 to facilitate the former Arvin manufacturing facilities reuse as the United Way Center.

A PUD is a self-created zoning district where the developer of the property is able to create their own specifications for the area, including sign standards, building heights and parking standards.

There’s a range of zoning in the area, from residential multi-family to heavy industrial.

There are existing industrial operations to the north and the United Way Center is to the south. The property to the immediate west is Sans Souci. Flats on 14th, a 110-unit affordable housing project currently under development, is also close by.

The preliminary recommendation from planning staff to city council was approval, along with two commitments related to the site design and that a minimum 11-foot travel lane, 5-foot tree lawn and 6-foot sidewalk be added on the south side of 14th Street between Central Park Place Apartments and Hutchins Avenue.

Planning staff found the site to be a desirable infill use opportunity, one of the many goals of 2024’s housing study.

Chloe Engleking, development associate with Volunteers of America Ohio & Indiana, told commission members that the project will be focused on “adults with high needs” and that the first floor will be 100% ADA-compliant. The development is intended for people struggling to find housing and will be pet friendly. It will also be supported through funding from the state, according to Engleking.

The property is currently owned by United Way, but will come under the ownership of VOA as the development makes its way through the local government process.

VOA has met with surrounding neighbors and organizations, including Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. and Central Park Place Apartments, and they all had been supportive of the project. United Way also hosted an open house regarding the proposed development in late February “that went very well,” Engleking said.

VOA is intending to apply for a variance through the board of zoning appeals to ask for less required parking because residents in the development will likely not have cars, Engleking added

Although the development will remove parking that currently serves United Way and Sans Souci, planning staff found that the amount of spots that remain “appear to comply with what the zoning ordinance would require” to serve both organizations, according to city documents.