44°
To the editor:
The Putnam Valley Library's Board of Trustees are looking to double the amount of funding they receive from taxpayers by putting a referendum on November’s ballot. Currently, the town has approved the library's 2015 budget of $278,307. At the Town Hall budget meeting, there was no mention or request by the library for additional funds needed to provide more services to our community.
If the referendum gets voted in at November’s election, the town will no longer have any control of the amount of our taxes that are allocated to the library’s annual budget. The library's budget and the amount of our taxes we pay for that budget will be out of control, just like the Putnam Valley Central School District’s budget has been over the years.
Currently the library is not required to open its books to the town for review. It is believed that they are sitting on a very large reserve at taxpayer’s expense. Will the Library reach the Putnam Valley Central School District’s tremendous budget of $48 million dollars? Will it slowly creep up from the $287,307 to a million dollars over the next few years similar to what had happen to the Mahopac's Library budget which recently passed at the million dollar mark?
No one can dispute that the library’s function in the community is vital and plays an important role to our residents. If the library needs to implement improvements, they should be forthcoming and transparent at the budget meetings held at Town Hall. They should also be forthcoming and transparent as to the amount of reserves they currently holding.
To date, no one has been privy to that number, my guesstimate is somewhere in the vicinity of $4 million dollars. As over-taxed residents of Putnam Valley, we have to put an end or a limit on how much more we will endure. We must have oversight into the Library’s budget. If this come up for voters in November VOTE NO.
Daniel P. Vera, A Taxpayer Advocate
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