Tuxedo Park Library appeals to voters

TUXEDO-Town of Tuxedo residents will be asked to approve a $29,365 increase in the Tuxedo Park Library budget during voting on Election Day, Nov. 8. The increase would bring the library’s budget to a total of $389,830. Library officials estimate that the library’s allocation of taxes will increase from $1.94 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to $1.99 per $1,000 in 2006. An example offered by library officials indicated that a house with an assessed value of $50,000 and with market value of approximately $312,500 would pay $99.95 in taxes to the library for 2006. That would mean an increase of $2.37 for the year, or less than a penny a day. Similarly, for a home assessed at $100,000 and with a market value of $625,000, the library tax bill would be $199.90, or $4.75 more than current taxes. The owner of a home with an assessed value of $200,000 and a market value of $1.25 million would pay $399.80, with an annual increase of $9.50. “When you consider that a DVD rental at the local video store is $4.85, an annual subscription to the Wall Street Journal costs $215, and the average cost of a new best seller is $25.65, the library is the best deal in town,” said Library Director Claudia Depkin. She said the increase is needed to cover the rising cost of utilities and maintenance as well as to preserve extended hours, upgrade the collection of best sellers, DVDs and children’s materials and improve on-line access by launching a new, user-friendly Web site. “While we have been able to hold costs in a number of areas and improve productivity, we believe the proposed increase will directly benefit the community by making the library more accessible to more people,” she said. In 2004 the library’s funding structure changed so that voters must directly approve budget increases. Using the budget approved last November, the library this year expanded operating hours on Wednesdays and Fridays, added a new Waddlertime program for toddlers, purchased new computers and software for the children’s room, added 40 new magazine subscriptions and increased the size of its Books on CD and DVD collections, Depkin said.