BBP Library Budget Proposal Features 1.94% Tax Rate Increase

Bayport-Blue Point voters will go to the polls Wednesday on a proposed Bayport-Blue Point Library budget that features a 1.94 percent tax rate increase.

The budget increase is below the state mandated tax levy cap of 2 percent. The proposed budget is $2,206,174. This year’s current budget is $2,164,226.98.

The new tax rate would be .99 cents for Islip Town taxpayers and $13.60 for Brookhaven Town homeowners. In both towns the library portion of the property tax bill is approximately 4 percent of the total bill, according to a budget brochure created by the library.

The proposed operating budget offers community members “increased opportunities for personal enrichment while continuing to ensure the outstanding services,” states a letter from the library board of trustees in the flyer.

According to the brochure the proposal reflects a decrease in salaries and benefits for the second straight year, and a slight increase for books, programs and other materials. The projected cost to the average homeowner would be $8 or less annually.

The top budget jump is a 153.7 percent increase in reference books and databases, from the current spend of $13,500 to $34,250.

There is a 2.22 percent increase in adult fiction and non-fiction and no budget changes on spend related to young adult fiction and non-fiction, children’s fiction and non-fiction, or periodicals.

The biggest reduction is within the retirement area with a 13.65 percent cut, from a spend of $148,227 this year to $128,000 next year.

There is a 10.71 increase in medical and disability insurance, from this year’s spend of $229,492 to $254,076.

Insurance costs for building contents and liability are up by 22 percent, from the current cost of $16,500 to $20,130 and custodial supplies are up 20 percent, from $5,000 to $6,000.

The vote will be held on Wednesday, April 4 from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the library on Blue Point Avenue.