Carson voters say no to new library

The Carson City Knowledge and Discovery Center project was met with resounding opposition from Carson City voters Tuesday.The final tally shows 68 percent of the 22,896 who cast ballots on the advisory question said no when asked whether it was worth a quarter-cent bump to the sales tax to build a new library complex.That effectively kills the project since the Carson City Board of Supervisors agreed when they put the issue on the ballot that they would abide by the wishes of the electorate.“I’m disappointed with the results,” said Carson City Library Director Sara Jones, who headed the effort to find funding for the project. “We asked the community and the community is saying ‘no thank you.’”Day Williams, one of the organizers of the opposition to the project, said he hopes — in the wake of the vote — “the Board of Supervisors will pay attention to the will of the people.“The project needs to go away,” Williams said. “We need the basic services taken care of.”Carson City Question 1 asked voters if they would be willing to raise the sales tax a quarter-cent to pay off bonds that would build the knowledge center and adjacent plaza. The proposed tax would have generated about $1.8 million a year to pay off the $28.8 million complex.If approved, the Hop and Mae Adams Foundation, which owns the Carson Nugget, would have donated the land — currently part of the Nugget parking lot — to build the center.“The gift of the land is off,” said Jones following Tuesday’s vote. “The people spoke and the deal is off.”