In this week’s issue of the Call, we have stories about the Mehlville Board of Education and the Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors setting public hearings on their proposed 2013 tax rates.

Both public hearings will take place today — Sept. 26. In the stories, we have the specifics of the proposed tax rates. For example, the school board will consider approval of a 2013 “blended” tax rate of $3.7810 per $100 of assessed valuation.

The blended tax rate is not levied, but used for state calculations. As proposed, the blended tax rate would increase by 9.29 cents, or 2.5 percent, from the current rate of $3.6881.

The fire district board will consider approval of a 2013 blended rate of 70.8 cents per $100 — one-tenth of a cent more than the current 70.7 cents.

To obtain this information, the Call simply asked for it. That wasn’t the case with the St. Louis County Library Board of Trustees.

The Call’s Gloria Lloyd attended the Sept. 16 meeting of the Board of Trustees, which voted unanimously to establish the library’s 2013 tax rates.

In setting the 2013 rates, the board approved the library administration’s recommendation that “the proposed tax rates listed for all subclasses of real estate and personal property be assessed as the 2013 tax rates …”

Sounds simple, yet when the Call asked for those rates, Kristen Sorth, interim director, said they would not be available until after the board approved the minutes of its September meeting — in October. After some unnecessary back and forth with library officials, the Call finally received the rates with the stipulation that “these rates are not final and have not yet been certified by the state.”

While the numbers could change, the library’s residential rate will increase to 25 cents per $100 from 17.3 cents; the commercial rate will increase to 26.4 cents per $100 from 19 cents; the personal property rate will increase to 22.5 cents per $100 from 15 cents; and the agricultural rate will increase to 27.9 cents per $100 from 20 cents.

Voters approved a 6-cent tax-rate increase, Proposition L, to fund construction, renovation and upgrades to library facilities last fall. Like other taxing entities, the library’s assessed valuation declined, allowing it to roll up its tax rates to capture the same amount of revenue it received last year.

The irony’s not lost on us that while the library’s primary purpose is to offer access to information, it’s less than forthcoming when it comes to providing details about its finances.