44°
POUND RIDGE, N.Y. Pound Ridge voters have given their approval to the 2012 Library District budget with a nearly 72 percent majority vote.
Pound Ridge Library is a special district library, which means its operating budget is supported by tax dollars collected by the town and then dispersed to the library. Any capital improvements must be done separately with funds raised by the Pound Ridge Library Foundation.
The budget that voters approved for 2012 calls for $556,000 in expenditures, a 2.95 percent increase from last year. But the entire budget is not raised through tax dollars. Some of the funds are garnered through fines, book sales and other revenue. The amount of money raised by taxes for 2012 is $479,163, a 3.5 percent hike from last year. For homeowners, that means $1.32 per $1,000 of assessed property value an increase of 3.13 percent from 2011.
Seventy-one percent is considered a good margin for these votes, said Marilyn Tinter, library director. But what I think is more important is that the turnout was pretty low about 100 people voted. I think if people were really against it they would have turned out to vote. I think it means they are satisfied with our services.
Tinter explained that if the budget had failed to pass, it would have remained the same as last year. She said that in the seven years it has been a special district library that has never happened.
People of Pound Ridge recognize the importance of the library, she said.
The 2011 operating budget helped pay for the development of a new website, a weekly music program for preschoolers, the introduction of paperless registration, a new walkway and patio, energy-efficient lighting, steam-pipe replacement and new exterior siding, among other things. The list of plans for 2012 includes increased adult music programming, increased technology workshops, more programs for teens and seniors, landscaping and painting.
The vote also included an election for the librarys district board of trustees. Three spots on the nine-person panel come up for election each year. Incumbent Kenneth Turner was re-elected, while Peter Clough and Lee Goldstein were elected for the first time. Clough and Goldstein will serve three-year terms and Turner will serve a one-year term.
Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Pound Ridge and receive free news updates.
