Proposed Riverhead Library budget stays under 2% cap

A proposed $3.5 million budget in 2014-15 for Riverhead Free Library would increase taxes by roughly $62,000 across the district, keeping it under the state-mandated tax levy cap, library officials announced in their March/April newsletter.

The library has budgeted for $3,503,713 in expenditures, the highest being roughly $2.6 million for personnel salaries. Library materials and buildings and grounds costs would make up another roughly $500,000, according to the proposed budget outline.

The budget would require tax revenue of $3,352,213, an increase of 1.9 percent, library officials wrote. Next year’s proposal is lower than this year’s $3.8 million budget, which passed last April. The last of the library’s debt service was paid this year.

“The Board of Trustees worked rigorously to pare the coming year’s budget to the bone, without cutting hours or services to our ever-increasing patrons,” library director Joy Rankin wrote.

A budget information meeting will be held Tuesday, March 11, from 7 to 7:30 p.m. in the library meeting room.

The vote will be held on April 8 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. A full proposal for the library budget will be made available on the library’s website on March 4.

Check back to the News-Review’s site for a full summary of the library budget once it becomes available.