From bsblsusan at yahoo.com Tue Jul 5 11:59:47 2011 From: bsblsusan at yahoo.com (Susan Herr) Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 09:59:47 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Txlibdistricts] July 15th Library District Meeting - Ebooks survey In-Reply-To: <1BF14CC98AA873488E505F70BE38B03D38E299877E@wb2007ex.WCLD.LIB> References: <1BF14CC98AA873488E505F70BE38B03D38E299877E@wb2007ex.WCLD.LIB> Message-ID: <1309885187.57072.YahooMailRC@web59806.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the meeting as I will be on vacation. Debbie Neubauer, our FOL president, will be giving a presentation on ebooks and will act as secretary in my place. Debbie has some requests though and hopes she can get some responses so she can gear her presentation to the group's needs. Please email Debbie at dn184ems at gvtc.com with your responses: Do you currently have ebooks at your library? If so, are you doing it on your own or in a consortium? What issues or problems have you had? Thanks, Susan Susan Herr Library Director Bulverde/Spring Branch Library 830.438.4864 bsblsusan at yahoo.com ________________________________ From: Beth Fox To: "Districts (txlibdistricts at lists.tsl.state.tx.us)" Cc: "Linda Patterson (linda at patterson.net)" ; Jennifer Carpenter ; Mary Jo Finch Sent: Thu, June 30, 2011 8:44:08 PM Subject: [Txlibdistricts] July 15th Library District Meeting Hi Everyone. Carolyn Manning will lead the discussion since I am in Concord, MA with my mom who is under Hospice Care. My new assistant, Jennifer Carpenter, will take care of ordering the food for Jason?s Deli and making sure there are nibbles and that the room is set up for the meeting. My branch manager, Mary Jo Finch, will also be at the meeting. Be sure to meet both of these wonderful people! If at all possible, Jennifer would like to have the Jason?s Deli order the day before the meeting! I?ll miss seeing everyone, Beth Beth Wheeler Fox, Library Director Westbank Community Library District 1309 Westbank Dr., Austin, TX 78746 512-314-3580 Fax 512-327-3074 Concord, MA with my mom who is under Hospice Care. My new assistant, Jennifer Carpenter, will take care of ordering the food for Jason?s Deli and making sure there are nibbles and that the room is set up for the meeting. My branch manager, Mary Jo Finch, will also be at the meeting. Be sure to meet both of these wonderful people! If at all possible, Jennifer would like to have the Jason?s Deli order the day before the meeting! I?ll miss seeing everyone, Beth Beth Wheeler Fox, Library Director Westbank Community Library District 1309 Westbank Dr., Austin, TX 78746 512-314-3580 Fax 512-327-3074 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.tsl.state.tx.us/pipermail/txlibdistricts/attachments/20110705/657bc386/attachment.html From roxanna at tpml.org Fri Jul 15 16:53:27 2011 From: roxanna at tpml.org (Roxanna Deane) Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:53:27 -0500 Subject: [Txlibdistricts] Questions Message-ID: <002a01cc4339$a15a0550$e40e0ff0$@tpml.org> It was really great today to hear everyone - I always learn so much. I do want to suggest that we have a presentation or discussion of Facebook and other social media at the January meeting. Is it all worth the effort? I have a hard time keeping the website fresh. I also have a question. Do you accept credit/debit card payments? If so what company do you use? Thanks Roxanna Deane, Director Tye Preston Memorial Library 16311 South Access Road Canyon Lake, TX 78133 830 964-3744 www.tpml.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.tsl.state.tx.us/pipermail/txlibdistricts/attachments/20110715/987cd00f/attachment.html From mmcmillian at laketravis.lib.tx.us Fri Jul 15 17:12:47 2011 From: mmcmillian at laketravis.lib.tx.us (Morgan McMillian) Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:12:47 -0500 Subject: [Txlibdistricts] Questions In-Reply-To: <002a01cc4339$a15a0550$e40e0ff0$@tpml.org> References: <002a01cc4339$a15a0550$e40e0ff0$@tpml.org> Message-ID: <4E20BB5F.7010406@laketravis.lib.tx.us> Great idea, Roxanna! I would love to discuss social media at one of our meetings - learn what works and what isn't working for everyone. We use PayPal, but are not entirely happy with it. They take around 5% of each credit card payment. I enjoyed seeing everyone today! -- Morgan On 7/15/2011 4:53 PM, Roxanna Deane wrote: > > It was really great today to hear everyone -- I always learn so > much. I do want to suggest that we have a presentation or > discussion of Facebook and other social media at the January > meeting. Is it all worth the effort? I have a hard time keeping > the website fresh. > > I also have a question. Do you accept credit/debit card payments? > If so what company do you use? > > Thanks > > Roxanna Deane, Director > > Tye Preston Memorial Library > > 16311 South Access Road > > Canyon Lake, TX 78133 > > 830 964-3744 > > www.tpml.org > > > _______________________________________________ > Txlibdistricts mailing list > Txlibdistricts at lists.tsl.state.tx.us > https://lists.tsl.state.tx.us/mailman/listinfo/txlibdistricts -- Morgan McMillian Library Director Lake Travis Community Library 2300 Lohman's Spur, Suite 100 Austin, Texas 78734 (512) 263-2885 www.laketravislibrary.org This message may contain information that will subject this message to disclosure under public information statutes. In the alternative, this message may contain information that is confidential and privileged. Unless you are the addressee (or authorized to receive for the addressee), you may not use, copy or disclose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received the message in error, please advise the sender by reply e-mail and delete the message. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.tsl.state.tx.us/pipermail/txlibdistricts/attachments/20110715/cfd14a0f/attachment-0001.html From cara at dscl.org Sat Jul 16 10:03:02 2011 From: cara at dscl.org (Cara Russell) Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2011 10:03:02 -0500 Subject: [Txlibdistricts] Questions In-Reply-To: <002a01cc4339$a15a0550$e40e0ff0$@tpml.org> References: <002a01cc4339$a15a0550$e40e0ff0$@tpml.org> Message-ID: <009401cc43c9$7868e6d0$693ab470$@dscl.org> We accept credit/debit and use TIB (The Independent Bankersbank). Our contact is Jeff Hurst 1-800-327-0053 Option 1. Our bank is Pioneer Bank here in Dripping Springs and this is the company they use. You also had a question about a reliable door counter. I use a brand called Total Count Accurate One http://total-count.com/. We have had it for 4 years with NO problems. It is a company based in Australia. Right now it is listed for $227. This price includes freight. It is very reliable, but runs on electricity, not a battery. I like it because you use a magnet to clear it, never having to touch the unit. With our old one, you had to push a button to clear it and it would sometimes get out of alignment with the reflector, which caused it to stop working correctly. We have a facebook page and update it weekly. We have 293 friends. I think it is worth the effort, but I have a Technical Services staff person who is in charge of updating it. See you in January, Cara Russell, Library Director Dripping Springs Community Library 512-858-7825 From: txlibdistricts-bounces at lists.tsl.state.tx.us [mailto:txlibdistricts-bounces at lists.tsl.state.tx.us] On Behalf Of Roxanna Deane Sent: Friday, July 15, 2011 4:53 PM To: Districts Subject: [Txlibdistricts] Questions It was really great today to hear everyone - I always learn so much. I do want to suggest that we have a presentation or discussion of Facebook and other social media at the January meeting. Is it all worth the effort? I have a hard time keeping the website fresh. I also have a question. Do you accept credit/debit card payments? If so what company do you use? Thanks Roxanna Deane, Director Tye Preston Memorial Library 16311 South Access Road Canyon Lake, TX 78133 830 964-3744 www.tpml.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.tsl.state.tx.us/pipermail/txlibdistricts/attachments/20110716/8e108bbd/attachment.html From cara at dscl.org Sat Jul 16 10:12:44 2011 From: cara at dscl.org (Cara Russell) Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2011 10:12:44 -0500 Subject: [Txlibdistricts] MUNIServices contact info Message-ID: <009f01cc43ca$d1f28b10$75d7a130$@dscl.org> MUNIServices Our Texas team: Lisa Broussard, CPA Vice President, Client Services Houston, Texas Lisa.broussard at muniservices.com 713.459.5079 Brenda Anderson Client Services Manager Weatherford, Texas Brenda.anderson at muniservices.com 817.771.4066 Ted Kamel Client Services Manager, Auditor Tyler, Texas Ted.kamel at muniservices.com 903.952.9794 Fran Mancia Vice President, Government Relations and Business Development Austin, Texas and Sacramento, CA Fran.mancia at muniservices.com 559.288.7296 Kandance (Kandi) Warnock HOT Manager Ft. Worth, Texas Kandance.warnock at muniservices.com 817-905-7027 Kirk Dimery Sales & Use Tax Analyst Fresno, CA Kirk.dimery at muniservices.com 559.271.6836 Kirk Dimery is the person I work with the most. Really nice guy. Cara Russell, Library Director Dripping Springs Community Library 512-858-7825 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.tsl.state.tx.us/pipermail/txlibdistricts/attachments/20110716/ce786231/attachment.html From cara at dscl.org Tue Jul 19 14:27:48 2011 From: cara at dscl.org (Cara Russell) Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:27:48 -0500 Subject: [Txlibdistricts] Update / Texas Legislative Wrap Up Message-ID: <001001cc4649$f20ee0c0$d62ca240$@dscl.org> Below is a very comprehensive update on current legislation concerning sales tax revenue, collection, and comptroller reporting practices. Cara Russell, Library Director Dripping Springs Community Library 512-858-7825 From: Lisa Broussard [mailto:LisaB at broussardpa.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 2:21 PM To: cara at dscl.org; lisa.broussard at muniservices.com Subject: Re: MuniServices Policy Update / Texas Legislative Wrap Up Yes, please do! The TML has a no release email address policy, so I could not get a complete list of the interested parties. If you would like me to include others in the future, please ask them to email their contact info, and I am happy to do so! Thanks, Lisa _____ From: Cara Russell To: lisa.broussard at muniservices.com Sent: Tue Jul 19 15:16:26 2011 Subject: RE: MuniServices Policy Update / Texas Legislative Wrap Up Lisa, is it alright if I forward this on to other library district directors and board members? Cara Russell, Library Director Dripping Springs Community Library 512-858-7825 From: Lisa Broussard [mailto:stephen at revds.ccsend.com] On Behalf Of Lisa Broussard Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 11:01 AM To: cara at dscl.org Subject: MuniServices Policy Update / Texas Legislative Wrap Up Having trouble viewing this email? Click here Description: Image removed by sender. TX Legislative Logo 7.11 Description: Image removed by sender. MuniServices Policy Update/Texas Legislative Wrap Up (PDF) MuniServices Policy Update The Texas Legislature recently adjourned the 82nd Regular Session and the 1st Special Called Session. It has been nothing short of an "interesting" six months in Austin. An unprecedented $25 billion budget deficit dominated the deliberations of our elected officials and impacted every aspect of government in Texas. In the end, all state agency and program budgets were impacted significantly, including funding for health and human services and public education. MuniServices' Government Relations team and advocate's proximity to the State Capitol allows us to work closely and partner with industry and local government representatives on legislative issues impacting public agencies. The session required collaborative and dedicated resources to ensure the protection of local revenues. There were over 6,000 individual pieces of legislation filed and considered by both chambers during the spring. Over 1,500 bills and resolutions gained final passage, and as you can imagine, this required tremendous effort and resources to monitor on behalf of local government interests. As always, the Texas Municipal League (TML) and other local organizations took a strong lead, while the MuniServices team helped where it could and actively supported several pieces of legislation that ultimately gained passage. Many issues reported below represent a continuation of the efforts from previous sessions. HB 590 related to amended sales tax reports and the reallocation of sales tax revenue, HB 2048 which strengthens the collection and enforcement of state and local hotel occupancy taxes, and SB 758 that lowers the threshold for the Comptroller to provide sales and use tax information to local taxing entities are among this year's accomplishments. MuniServices is proud to partner with many Texas organizations as a revenue consultant; and to support legislative efforts to adopt tools and policies to preserve and enhance local revenues which are necessary for the vitality of our communities. This report is organized as follows: * Part 1: Legislative Report * Part 2: Looking Forward Part 1: Legislative Report * Sales Tax Revenue HB 590 (Thompson) related to amended sales tax reports and the reallocation of sales tax revenue Over the years, many local governments have been the subject of a "reallocation or rebate" notice by the comptroller. This has often put those local governments in a financial bind due to the nature of the sales tax and the reallocation. HB 590 allows a local government that has been impacted by a sales tax reallocation or refund that meets certain threshold requirements to work with the comptroller to determine the specific nature of that reallocation or refund. The bill as filed allowed local governments much more due process and the ability to protest a reallocation event. However, the mechanics of how sales tax proceeds are allocated to local governments according to returns filed by the tax payer made the original language unworkable without a complete and expensive overhaul of the Comptroller's automated processing function. A compromise bill allowing a local government to receive additional information in the comptroller's possession regarding the nature of the reallocation or refund ultimately gained approval. SB 1 [1st Called Special Session] (Duncan) related to state fiscal matters, including the collection of state and local taxes ("Amazon" issue) SB 1 included provisions that were needed in order for the State's budget to balance, a constitutional requirement. The fiscal matters bill became victim to the legislative clock during the regular session. This omnibus bill was the primary reason for the special session. While the bill primarily focused on school finance and various health care expenditures and savings programs for the state, there were some sales tax implications for local governments. This bill contained a change to the Place of Business definition that cleans up the "physical nexus" standard required for a business to collect state and local taxes. (This was commonly referred to during the session as the "Amazon" issue.) Primarily the bill clarified that if a company has a physical presence in the state, via a warehouse, distribution center, sales force, storefront, etc., then it is required to collect and remit Texas sales and use tax. This physical presence requirement also exists for an affiliated company that is substantially owned or controlled by another company that makes sales into the state. SB 758 (Deuell) related to sales and use tax information provided to certain local governmental entities SB 758 requires the Comptroller to provide sales and use tax information to local taxing entities. The Comptroller will now provide detailed sales tax information (to those local government entities that request information) on all businesses that collect and remit more than $5,000 in sales tax during the calendar year. The threshold for the information was lowered from $25,000. This allows local governments to have information on additional businesses and segments within their jurisdiction and will better enable them to forecast, plan and encourage economic activity within their jurisdictions. MuniServices took an active role in promoting this legislation and worked closely with Senator Deuell and Chairman Hilderbran on the bill. * Hotel Occupancy Taxes HB 2048 (Lyne) related to the collection and enforcement of state and local hotel occupancy taxes MuniServices worked with the bill author, the Texas Municipal League and the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association on this important legislation. This bill provides local governments with more authority and flexibility to audit local hotel properties for Hotel Occupancy Tax compliance. The bill also allows a local government to turn over its audit findings to the Comptroller and receive a 20% finder's fee from the state on any delinquency that is finally collected as a result of information provided by the local government. SB 977 (Hinojosa) relates to the imposition and use of the municipal hotel occupancy tax by certain eligible central municipalities Certain "eligible central municipalities" are defined in statute. Those municipalities may utilize sales and hotel occupancy tax for a variety of purposes within the community. Under certain circumstances, hotel projects within 1000 feet of a convention center are eligible for state sales tax rebates. SB 977 cleaned up that statute somewhat and addressed an issue regarding the rebates of the State's sales and use tax that have been pledged for bond repayment. The bill creates a suspense account for those sales taxes that are outside of the state treasury. Funds held outside of the state treasury are not required to go through the constitutionally mandated biennial appropriations process. The new language simply takes into account that sales tax revenues pledged for bond repayment and eligible for a 10 year rebate under statute do not have to go through the normal appropriations process. * Economic Development HB 2853 (Davis) updates tax increment financing provisions HB 2853 amends provisions related to tax increment financing to define project costs to conform to previous statutory changes, grant cities and counties broader authority to designate tax increment reinvestment zones, streamline various notices and filing requirements, and make technical corrections. The bill was a much needed update to the statute that garnered wide support among legislators. The bill modernizes the code on tax increment financing that enhance the ability of local governments to engage in economic development through tax increment reinvestment zones. * Property Tax HB 930 (Darby) provides conditions for seizing property for tax payments HB 930 clarifies that a court may issue a warrant authorizing the seizure of personal property for the payment of ad valorem taxes if the property owner owns no other property in the county that would satisfy the tax payment and there is reason to believe the property owner is about to remove or liquidate the property. The bill is a technical change in order to complete changes made during the previous session dealing with affidavits for the seizure of property in danger of liquidation. HB 2220 (Davis) authorizes appraisal boards to rule on taxpayer's inability to prepay property tax HB 2220 amends provisions relating to the requirement that a taxpayer must pay property tax owed or billed before pursuing litigation, including allowing an appraisal review board to rule on a taxpayer's claim of inability to pay property taxes on a timely basis. The bill allows the appraisal review board to review a taxpayers' petition of inability to pay their taxes without having to go to the district court. This follows the legislature's long standing desire to settle matters in the lowest cost manner. The bill protects both parties and allows a review by the district court when needed. SB 1120 (Seliger) makes local government corporation property outside municipality liable for property tax SB 1120 specifies that property of a local government corporation created by a municipal power agency is not exempt from property taxation if it is located outside the municipality which created the municipal power agency. Part 2: Looking Forward In addition to the national economic recession, the State's budget deficit is a result of an underperforming Business Margins Tax. Some estimates conclude that the revised Texas franchise tax is bringing in $2.5 billion per year less than was anticipated when passed. This has contributed to additional budget pressure specifically related to public school finances. Due to this situation, the state's legislative leaders have said they will use the next 18-24 months to completely review and rewrite the Texas Business Tax. This will likely result in some dramatic changes to all tax structures including local governments. Now more than ever, it is important for local governments to be aware of their tax structure and how changes at the state and federal level might impact those revenues. The Legislature will soon release interim charges on issues that could impact local governments. The committees of jurisdiction in both chambers will hold hearings and begin work on the issues in preparation for the 83rd Legislative Session. MuniServices will work with interested parties and keep our clients informed of interim charges, hearings and actions. In the meantime, please don't hesitate to contact MuniServices for additional information or how your community can better prepare its finances for the foreseeable future. Our staff will be attending both the 2011 Texas Municipal League (TML) and Government Finance Officers Association of Texas (GFOAT) conferences and will be available to discuss the session and other ways we can partner to improve the future of your city. We look forward to seeing all of your there! Fran Mancia , Vice President of Government Relations at 800.800.8181 (5013) or Lisa Broussard , Vice President of Client Services at (713)459-5079 are available to discuss the impact and benefit of the measures outlined in this report, as well as others considered and adopted this session. Readers may also refer to www.capitol.state.tx.us for further detail on measures. MuniServices Policy Update/Texas Legislative Wrap Up (PDF) Description: Image removed by sender. Description: Image removed by sender. Forward email Description: Image removed by sender. Description: Image removed by sender. This email was sent to cara at dscl.org by lisa.broussard at muniservices.com | Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe ? | Privacy Policy . RDS | smorris at revds.com | 2317 Third Avenue North | Birmingham | AL | 35203 Description: Image removed by sender. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.tsl.state.tx.us/pipermail/txlibdistricts/attachments/20110719/0c7cc761/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 823 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.tsl.state.tx.us/pipermail/txlibdistricts/attachments/20110719/0c7cc761/attachment-0005.jpe -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 1140 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.tsl.state.tx.us/pipermail/txlibdistricts/attachments/20110719/0c7cc761/attachment-0006.jpe -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 332 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.tsl.state.tx.us/pipermail/txlibdistricts/attachments/20110719/0c7cc761/attachment-0009.jpe From wclark at tsl.state.tx.us Mon Jul 25 10:10:34 2011 From: wclark at tsl.state.tx.us (Wendy Clark) Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:10:34 -0500 Subject: [Txlibdistricts] Social media in libraries Message-ID: <74F440BE5406B44DA9FA6DB49232015203751038@Exchange01.win2k.tsl.state.tx.us> TSLAC has done several helpful webinars on social networking in libraries that I think you may find beneficial. They?re available as shortcourses if you would like to get CE credit for watching the archive. Also, we just did a webinar on Facebook with The Seattle Public Library so if you?re wondering how best to maximize a fan page, this is a must watch! We haven?t had time to turn this one into a shortcourse yet, but it should be coming by mid-August. Questions or trouble accessing these? Let Naomi DiTullio know at 512-936-2586 or nditullio at tsl.state.tx.us Enjoy! Wendy Connecting with your Community via Facebook - They already Like you! * View the Archive * View the Slides (PDF) This is a series of 3 we did last year: Getting Started with a Social Media Plan (# 1 - Using Social Media in the Library Series) Wondering what all those people do on Twitter and Facebook? Not sure how you would use them in your library? Join Meg Canada, Senior Librarian, Social Media and Public Training Coordinator at Hennepin County Library (MN) to learn about Twitter and Facebook and how they can fit into your library?s outreach, marketing, and programming efforts. Meg will introduce the tools, the plans, and the questions you should answer before launching social media at your library. * Enroll in the shortcourse (CE credit option) * Guest access to shortcourse (non-CE credit option) Managing Your Library's Online Reputation (# 2 - Using Social Media in the Library Series) Wondering what people are saying about your library on Twitter or other social media platforms? Join Meg Canada, Senior Librarian, Social Media and Public Training Coordinator at Hennepin County Library (MN) to learn about tools you can use to track and engage your customers (and non-customers). Meg will introduce tools, tips, and tricks for monitoring the Twitter-verse and other sites to capture what people are saying ? the good, bad, and ugly and how you can respond. * Enroll in the shortcourse (CE credit option) * Guest access to shortcourse (non-CE credit option) Successful Social Media Programs At Your Library (# 3 - Using Social Media in the Library Series) So you have launched your library into the Twitter-verse! Now what? How do you attract followers? How can you use it to publicize events? Provide new services? Join Meg Canada, Senior Librarian, Social Media and Public Training Coordinator at Hennepin County Library (MN) as she takes you on a tour of successful social media experiences. Meg's tour will cover libraries and other organizations that have been effective at using Twitter to highlight events, achievements, and services. * Enroll in the shortcourse (CE credit option) * Guest access to shortcourse (non-CE credit option) Questions or trouble accessing these? Let Naomi DiTullio know at 512-936-2586 or nditullio at tsl.state.tx.us Wendy Clark Loan Star Libraries Grant Coordinator Texas State Library and Archives Commission PO Box 12927 Austin, TX 78711-2927 512-463-5475 or 800-252-9386 Fax: 512-463-8800 Library Development News: http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/librarydevelopments/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.tsl.state.tx.us/pipermail/txlibdistricts/attachments/20110725/c930a83d/attachment.html