Residents to vote on library budget
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.>> Citizens of Saratoga Springs School District will vote on the FU 2017-2018 library budget April 13. Residents who are registered voters are eligible to vote in the Library’s H. Dutcher Community Room from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. A public hearing concerning the budget and an opportunity to meet library Trustee candidate Janet Lindner, who is running unopposed, will be held on April 10 at 7 p.m. in the H. Dutcher Community Room.
Library Trustees are asking voters to approve a tax levy of $5,103,600 for FU 2017-2018, which is a 0.5 percent increase from the amount approved for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
Little change in tax impact is expected.
“The Board of Trustees and staff are grateful for the public’s past support of our Library’s popular services and programs,” said President of the Library’s Board of Trustees Lindner in a statement. “The proposed budget will allow us to continue those services, to update and repair Library systems to meet ever-growing demand and to maintain our Library as a valuable resource for community members of all ages.”
Library director Issac Pulver said demand for library services continues to be very high.
“Nearly 850,000 items were checked out in 2016, and attendance at library programs grew by 7 percent over 2015. Nearly half a million visitors entered the library during the year, and library staff made nearly 3,000 visits to home bound residents,” said Pulver.
“Over 111,000 sessions were logged on library computer resources, and our librarians answered more than 58,000 reference questions and arranged more than 1,800 programs ranging from story times to computer classes, that attracted more than 33,000 attendees.
The budget proposal we are putting forward maintains the resources to meet this very high demand.”
According to the library’s website the proposed budget will continue to allow the library to meet the high demand for library services, but also to make improvements and repairs to our aging mechanical systems, including plans to replace the cooling tower.
The library serves the residents of the Saratoga Springs Enlarged City School District. Funds for the library are collected when school taxes are collected, and appear as a separate item on tax bills.