Photo by Dion Ogust
The proposed 2012 library budget comes in at $583,472, an increase of $47,737 over 2011. The tax levy increase is smaller; about $20,000 (from $494,471 to $514,250), which will increase the tax rate from 25 cents per $1000 of assessed value to 27.19 cents per $1000. For a $200,000 home, that works out to an increase of $4.38.
The Board of Trustees of the Saugerties Public Library will hold a public hearing on the proposed 2012 budget at the regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday, August 9, 2011, at 6 p.m.
Copies of the proposed budget are available at the library and may be picked up anytime when the library is open.
Elections and budget vote will be held at the library on Thursday, September 1, 2011, from 10a.m. to 8p.m. Absentee ballots will be available after August 12th.
The meeting will be held at the library on Washington Avenue. For more information, call the library at 246-4317.
According to treasurer Ken Goldberg, the new expenses are the result of a mandatory audit of the $7 million expansion/renovation project ($12,000), new fees from the Mid-Hudson Library System, and modest salary and benefit increases for seasoned employees; none for new ones. Total personnel spending will increase from $286,318 to $296,325, about $10,000.
In other news, Goldberg said the library issued more than 400 new library cards this year, proof the community is making use of the new facility.