Great Neck school district residents voted Tuesday to approve the Great Neck Library’s $9,628,200 budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year, which calls for a less than 1 percent decrease, or $19,000, from the current year’s budget.
The budget received 79 percent of the vote — 903 to 239.
“We are most appreciative of the confidence the public has shown in the fiscal management of the Great Neck Library,” Great Neck Library business manager Neil Zitofsky said. “We will continue to earn that trust by operating in a responsible and transparent manner.”
While spending decreased, the amount the library will collect through taxation will remain the same as the current year’s budget at $8,641,500.
Zitofsky said if the board decided to decrease taxes, it would had an impact on the Library’s Aaa bond rating designated by Moody’s Investors Service Inc.
“That was predicated on the fact that the bond holders were guaranteed that the tax rates would not decrease,” Zitofsky said. “We could do it voluntarily, in theory, but not once we’ve got the bond in place.”
The budget includes $3,768,000 to be spent on employee salaries, a $71,400 increase from the current year’s budget.
Zitofsky said that number includes an additional $250,000 that is not currently being used to pay staff, but is a security measure in the event the library needs to hire part-time employees once the Main Building re-opens.
The budget calls for an additional $250,000 to be added to the Automated Library Fund to update the district’s information technology infrastructure.
An additional $200,000 was added to the district’s Branch Fund, Zitofsky said, to “refresh” its three branches after Main Building renovations are completed.
The budget also calls for an additional $50,000 to be added to the Main Building and Special Services Fund for startup costs for a new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, Laboratory.
