OTTAWA — Franklin County commissioners backed away from a proposal that would have made a huge cut in the Franklin County Historical Society’s budget. Historical Society members have made harsh criticism over two meetings for the proposal, which would have rolled back the tax levy to a level of funding comparable to other surrounding counties –$55,000 from the historical society’s budget of about $81,000 this year to $26,000 next year. They said the cut was too big, too fast and unfairly singled out the historical society. Society president Blaine Finch said the society has taken other cuts in recent years and the proposed cuts would have devastated its efforts and made it impossible to maintain the Old Depot Museum, the Dietrich Cabin and the society’s storage facility. Finch conceded that the society had been funded at the $26,000 level years ago but merely because the society was underfunded then doesn’t excuse underfunding in the future. Commission chair Ed Taylor said commissioners will now look at reducing the society’s property tax mill from a half-mill to a quarter mill over the next two years. That would mean that funding would drop from $81,000 to about $70,000 next year. In a time of tight budgets, the commissioners are more inclined to focus on essential services, he said. Commissioners would also look at transferring motel-tax funds from the Convention and Tourism Committee to help fund historical society operations, a plan that has also drawn opposition from the tourism group, who say that the motel-tax receipts widely vary from year to year.
Tuesday, July 19, 3 p.m.
