By:Jeff Lipton
On April 21, voters will be asked to approve a budget that will grow from $4,662,835 to $4,867,650, a hike of $204,815, or 4.4 percent. The library will ask voters to support a 5.15 percent increase in the amount to be raised by taxes.
We-re looking at a 5 percent increase in the tax rate, said Susan de Sciora, library director. The major increases in the budget come from fringe benefits. It-s horrendous.
She said hikes in the retirement system and health insurance amounting to a total of $116,000 have driven the budget up. Once the refinancing on the building-s bond issue is factored in, the tax rate could be reduced, de Sciora said. The library has been making payments on an $8.4 million bond issue for renovations to the library building in 1994.
Employee benefits are rising from $789,352 to $905,452, which includes retirement benefits, Social Security and workers- compensation, health, dental and disability insurance.
The budget also includes a $3,000 increase for building operations and a $13,000 increase for supplies, telephones and other utilities. Everything else is pretty stable, de Sciora said. It-s all employee benefits [driving up the budget]. There are not even huge increases in salaries. Salaries are expected to go up by about 4 percent, she said.
Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library has about 40 full-time employees and 25 to 30 part-time workers, including high school students who stock the shelves with books.
De Sciora said employee benefits in some libraries across the county are rising 10 percent. It-s enormous, and I don-t see some stabilization in that, she said. We have for those two items, especially the retirement system, absolutely no control over it. We are a small player in a very big system.
Ben Eilbott, vice president of the library board, said of the employee benefits, It-s been a problem around the country, and particularly in the Northeast. We held pretty much steady in all areas except salaries, health benefits and pension contributions.
Last year, voters approved a 5.8 percent budget increase by a vote of 240-147. At the time, the average tax rate for the four classes of property residential, condos/coops, utilities and commercial was $5.31 per $100 of assessed valuation and $5.99 for residential property alone. That means library taxes for a home assessed at $10,000 were about $600. It is too early to tell how much the tax will increase under the proposed new budget, since all factors, such as the loss of state aid and new property assessments, are not yet in. The new tax rate usually increases in accordance with the budget hike.
If passed, the new budget will take effect on July 1. The tax rate is still in a state of flux, de Sciora said. This is really a very conservative budget, given the costs of retirement. That-s one part of the budget that is fairly huge. There-s really no increase in anything else, except if we had to absolutely do it.
Passage of the budget will ensure that all services and hours of operation will be maintained, library officials said.
Also on the ballot is an uncontested election for library trustee. Jack Kahgan, who has been on the library board since 1987, is seeking re-election to a five-year term.
The budget vote and election will take place at the library, at 1125 Broadway in Hewlett, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on April 21. The vote is separate from the Hewlett-Woodmere School District vote in May, because a decision was made in 1991 to separate the vote. About half of the libraries do it that way, de Sciora said.
District 14 residents are eligible to vote if they have voted in a school district or library election in the past four years or in a general election in the past two years. Otherwise, voters must be at least 18 by April 21 and a legal resident of the district for 30 days prior to the election. Registration was scheduled for Wednesday, April 14, at the library.
