The Seymour Public Library District will conduct a
referendum on its proposed 2013 budget of $880,125. One trustee also will be
elected.
Voters will be asked to vote on the following question: Do
you approve of the 2013 budget of the Seymour Public Library District in the
amount of $880,125, of which $742,000 will be raised by a property tax levied
against real property within the district?
Voters in Sennett will elect a trustee. One candidate, Susan
Ahner, has submitted a petition and will be on the ballot.
When: From noon
to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012
Where: At the
library, 176-178 Genesee St.,
Auburn
Who is eligible to
vote: All registered voters in the library district are eligible to vote on
the budget. The library district consists of the city of Auburn,
the town of Owasco, and the portions of the
towns of Sennett and Fleming that are within the Auburn Enlarged
City School
District. Voting will be by paper ballot, and
names will be checked against voter registration lists.
Voters in the part of the town of Sennett that is within the Auburn Enlarged City School District are eligible to vote for the Sennett trustee.
The budget in brief: Like other local governments in the state, the library district is now subject to rules under the tax cap law. The New York State Office of the State Comptroller provides local governments with a formula to calculate the tax levy. One part of that formula limits the annual growth of property taxes to 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less.
Using the tax cap formula, the library district is permitted to collect $743,443 of its budget through property taxes. The library board rejected that amount, however, and instead approved a budget that would collect $742,000 through property taxes, an amount lower than the allowable tax increase. To see an illustration of the impact of the library budget on an individual homeowner, click here.
The library district did not seek any increase in property taxes last year.
The proposed budget will enable Seymour Library to maintain current services and cover modest increases in operating costs since voters last approved a budget two years ago.
