Community

Library budget votes set for Tuesday

RiverheadLibrary

Voters get their say on next year’s budgets for local libraries on Tuesday, with polls open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Riverhead and 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the North Shore Public Library.

The $3.5 million spending plan for the Riverhead Free Library stays under the state-mandated tax levy cap, only requiring a majority of ‘yes’ votes in order to get the OK for next year.

The budget would require tax revenue of $3.35 million, library officials wrote. Next year’s proposal is lower than this year’s $3.8 million budget, which passed last April. The district finished paying off its debt service last year on expansions made to the library — which cost the district $425,000 last year.

Not counting debt payments made last year, next year’s budget increases 1.5 percent year-over-year.

The library said in its budget statement that “in response to 2013 usage statistics (higher than 2012), the Board of Trustees determined that it was important to maintain high-demand services while keeping the budget as low as possible.”

In the North Shore Public Library budget, officials are requesting the public to OK a $3.77 million budget. With $271,570 in revenues expected, the budget raises the tax levy by 1 percent.

See the North Shore library’s 2014-2015 budget here, and click here to compare with last year’s budget.

Take a look at the proposed Riverhead budget below:

Budget