BATON ROUGE — As the city-parish seeks a way to raise police salaries and maintain a balanced budget after losing tax revenue to the new city of St. George, the East Baton Rouge Parish Library said Thursday it was willing to tweak a tax renewal — as long as the revenue it generates stays within its system.

The library had asked the Metro Council on Wednesday to approve a 10.5-mill property tax renewal for this fall's election — down from its current rate of 11.1 mills. It said Thursday it would try to come up with another number amid East Baton Rouge Parish's budget troubles.

Mayor-President Sid Edwards has proposed tapping current library revenues to boost police salaries. The proposed raid on the library's funding source would require a vote of the people.

"We are absolutely willing to come to the table and try to reach a compromise," the library system said in a lengthy statement. "We want the best for our community. The community has put a lot of trust in our libraries.

It said it would possibly bring a new proposal to the Metro Council on Feb. 26, and that while it might be lower than 10.5 mills, it would maintain dedicated funding. "In the event that we cannot reach such a solution, the library will resubmit our original resolution of a dedicated renewal tax of the 10.5 mills,” it said.

Edwards believes higher police salaries will help the city attract more police officers; he suggests the adoption of a 9.8-mill property tax for the city-parish's general fund rather than renewing the library tax.

Voters in the newly created city of St. George last December approved diverting about $48 million in sales tax revenue collected annually within its boundaries from the city-parish to its municipal coffers. Former Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome warned the move would have serious implications for the rest of East Baton Rouge Parish.

The city-parish will save some money as St. George pays for the services it will provide, but Broome told agencies to prepare for belt-tightening.