Due to circumstances related to COVID-19, the Port Washington Public Library will not conduct a public vote on its 2020-21 budget, the library’s Board of Trustees announced Tuesday.
Instead, the current budget will be extended for a year and the tax levy will not change.
The decision to cancel the vote, originally planned for April 7, which the board said is consistent with state law, was driven by several factors, according to a letter from the board.
“First and foremost, the board has concluded that the budget it originally proposed for community consideration, which provided for a 1% tax levy increase, is no longer in the best interests of our community, given that many people are struggling financially and the library’s expenses have been lower than anticipated as a result of the building being closed for an extended period of time,” the letter reads.
Another factor cited by the board is that a mail-in absentee ballot election “of the type mandated by New York State would come with a considerable cost, which would be borne by taxpayers.” Physically conducting the election would also expose the library staff to unnecessary risk, as it would require their physical presence in the library building to send out, receive and count ballots, the board says.
“Finally, executing the process required by law to draw up and formally propose a revised budget to be considered in a state-mandated election on June 9 cannot practicably be achieved in the existing timeframe,” the letter reads.
State law provides that a library such as Port has the option to roll its current budget forward one year without a vote by the community.
“Taking everything into consideration, the board has decided to avail ourselves of this option and will roll the current budget forward for the 2020-2021 fiscal year with no increase in the tax levy,” the letter reads.
As for the lone library board seat that will open at the end of June, the board said that the Port Washington school district had “graciously agreed to include the voting for the open board seat as part of the state-mandated, mail-in absentee ballot election it is conducting on June 9.” The trustee up for election was not specified.
“We look forward to seeing you all in our beautiful Library once this crisis passes, as it will,” the board wrote. “Until then, please stay safe.”
