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September 28, 2010

East Hanover working on a deal to get library funds for tax relief

http://www.nj.com
Sept. 28, 2010
Tomas Dinges/For the Star-Ledger

EAST HANOVER--Township officials and representatives from the town’s library have initiated a series of meetings to figure out the best way for the library to support the town in times of budgetary stress.

“We are backed into a corner,” said library director Gayle Carlson, “and we are trying to work with the township so that we can financially, within the law, help the town.”

Yesterday was the continuation of several exploratory meetings with township and library officials to figure out ways in which the library can help ease the fiscal burden of the township going into the planning for next year’s budget.

Some ideas being proposed are ways to share services, like merging the senior center into the library’s operations. A proposal to combine library activities with that of local schools was nixed because the state required too many requisites for participation.

The meetings are being held as the library is awaiting state approval for plans to transfer approximately $118,000 of the library’s budget surplus to the municipality to help with tax relief, Carlson said.

Over the last 10 years, the library has generated a surplus of approximately $1 million, Carlson said. About $100,000 was generated from fundraising, and the remainder came from “substantial interest” on a capital expenses fund that the library put money into over the years.

The library’s operating budget is approximately $1 million.

Throughout the state, libraries are preparing for cuts to the state aid provided to libraries. Gov. Christie has plans to cut 34 percent of state aid to libraries in 2011, Carlson said.

At the beginning of September, the township council voted to include a non-binding referendum on the November ballot asking voters if they wanted give the township control over the library’s finances.

The referendum would have asked voters if they wanted to change the status of the library from a “free library” to a non-profit “association.”

A free library means the library is independent of the township and receives its funding based on a tax levy formulated by the state on local property owners.

“By changing the form of government it would ease what our taxpayers would have to pay,” said council president Stephen DeRosa.

The proposed referendum said the library was being “overfunded,” in its current form of operation.

Library lawyers filed suit against the council, saying the language of the referendum was biased and misleading.

Shortly thereafter, township officials voted to rescind the referendum from the ballot.

Each year, a state formula determines how much the library is to receive each year from local property owners. For many years, this has resulted in a surplus anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000 above the East Hanover library’s operating expenses.

Last year, the library was budgeted $1.4 million, and the average East Hanover property owner contributed $165 in taxes towards the library’s operation, she said. At the end of 2009, the library had 4,500 registered library cardholders, she said.

The library is autonomous from the town, Carlson said, and is limited in how it acts by the state librarian.

Posted by tumulty at September 28, 2010 2:24 PM

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