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County staff in $100K club up 87% since 2006Supervisors fret about Kino money, to file brief in Phoenix garage casePima weighs new, less-complicated system of building feesPima plans to buy 4 parcels for open spacePima County set to spend $12.8 million on land purchases Major data firm drops plan for S. Ariz. site amid power concerns Firm's input on Kino Hospital shushed Off-road track at center of Court of Appeals challenge Gate near river is cut, restored County gets role in Rosemont mine study

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The best things in life are free.

Just don't count Downtown library parking among them anymore.

The county takeover of the Tucson-Pima Public LIbrary means the end of parking validation. Starting July 1, patrons of the Joel D. Valdez Main Library will have to pay to park in the building's underground garage.

That'll be $2 an hour for the first two hours and $1 for every additional hour, with a maximum of $5 for all day. It still will be free on nights and weekends.

The fact is, parking in the garage at 101 N. Stone Ave. never really was free, Library Director Nancy Ledeboer said.

The city-owned library validated parking in the city-owned garage, and taxpayers paid for it, to the tune of a $13,000-per-month subsidy in the library budget.

"The county feels that money could be spent on other services," Ledeboer said.

Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias said he wishes there were a way to continue to validate parking for library patrons, but the practice was "one of the great parking scams of Downtown."

Those in the know who had business Downtown would make a brief stop in the library, and taxpayers would end up paying for their parking.

Deputy County Administrator Hank Atha said the county will monitor the effect on patrons, and especially on programs for children. He said some exceptions could be made if necessary.

But Atha said he doesn't expect a big impact because the library has many other branches with free parking.

"It wasn't clear why we were doing that," Atha said. "Every other service Downtown requires that you pay for parking."

Atha and Ledeboer said the county takeover means an additional $1.2 million for new library materials, a 30 percent increase from last year. The library also is buying a new bookmobile and expanding its route, and it's adding a van to deliver books to senior centers and preschool programs.

"Overall, the services are increasing," Atha said.