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UPDATE: The Mamaroneck Library budget was passed Wednesday, said Mary Soto, a library employee. No official poll results have been made available as of Wednesday night. Check back with The Daily Mamaroneck for further updates.
MAMARONECK, N.Y. - Libby Jacobson was one of 158 Village of Mamaroneck residents to vote on the 2012-2013 library budget as of 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Jacobson, a village resident, voted "Yes" to pass the budget because of the services the library provides for students. "One of the big things that pushed me to come out today is, while my kids are fortunate enough to have access to tutoring and everything they need, a lot of people look to the library for that help," she said.
The one polling location at the Mamaroneck Library opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 9 p.m.
Luis Quiors also voted in favor of the budget because, he said, a community is nothing without its schools and libraries. "For those people that only look at it from an economic standpoint, they'll have a hard time selling their house," Quiros said.
The proposed library budget includes an 18.25 percent tax levy increase, which would cost the average village resident approximately $75 more per year. The significant jump comes, in part, as a result of the 2.8 percent increase in operating costs for the new Mamaroneck Library, which reopened in June. Of that $1,823,000 in costs, 1.7 percent is represented by state-mandated retirement costs. To prevent cuts to services, such an increase is necessary, said Steve Warner, treasurer of the library's Board of Trustees.
"If that's what it takes, that's what it takes," Jacobson said.
For more information on the proposed budget, click here.
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