Milpitas Leaders Cut Library Hours, Fireworks

Milpitas leaders on Tuesday voted to eliminate the city’s annual July 4th fireworks show and slash library hours in an effort to deal with the city’s ongoing budget deficit.

Starting April 1, the library will be open 54 hours instead of 66, as the city withdraws funding for the Main Street library. The library now will be dependent on Santa Clara County money to keep it open, city council members said Tuesday night. The move will save Milpitas about $34,000 each month.

The city’s annual July 4 fireworks show was also cut. The move will save Milpitas between $75,000 and $110,000. The Independence Day fireworks show was one of only a few remaining in Santa Clara County.

“I enjoy fireworks as much as anyone, but I think that’s a nicety we can live without,” said vice Mayor Pete McHugh.

The cuts passed on a 4-1 vote, with Mayor Jose Esteves voting against. Esteves said he could not support cutting library funding after voters in 2000 resoundingly approved measures H and I, which were promised to raise money for the library.

“I will be uncomfortable in cutting a single hour,” Esteves said. “The people marked this money for library use.”

Already, only about $400,000 of the approximately $1.2 million raised from measures H and I benefits the library, according to city reports on Tuesday. Measures H and I increased the city’s transit occupancy tax, which is the tax placed on hotel rooms.

Council members considered cutting library hours starting immediately, but instead decided to wait until April 1 to give staff time to organize schedules and notify patrons. New hours have not been determined.

Councilwoman Althea Polanski said the council fulfilled its promise to voters in 2000 by building a new library and buying new books and software, and diverting all of that money now is appropriate.

Measures H and I “did pass with a lot, but we stood up and did a lot of what the public asked for then,” Polanski said.