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Southold Free Library presents six-month plan

KATHARINE SCHROEDER PHOTO | The Southold Free Library budget vote is Tuesday.
KATHARINE SCHROEDER PHOTO | The Southold Free Library budget vote is Tuesday.

The Southold Free Library will ask voters to approve a six-month budget proposal Tuesday because the library has decided to change its fiscal calendar.

Library director Caroline MacArthur said the tentative $406,000 spending plan carries a 2 percent increase in the tax levy and will fund operating costs from January to June 2014.

The library is making the change from a Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 model to a July 1 to June 30 arrangement in order to simplify budget planning, coincide with the Southold School District’s fiscal year and be in compliance with state regulations pertaining to the tax cap law, Ms. MacArthur said.

In order to change its current fiscal calendar, she said, the library had two choices: prepare a six-month budget or an 18-month budget.

“If we decided to go for 18 months, we would have had to budget almost two years in advance,” Ms. MacArthur said. “It would have been way too complicated and we felt it would have been more responsible to go with the six months.”

Last year, Ms. MacArthur said, voters approved a budget to pay for operating costs through 2013, which totals $795,000. Half that amount, plus the 2 percent tax levy increase, equals the proposed six-month budget, she said.

The proposed spending plan applies nearly $15,000 of fund balance to offset expenses and preserves current staffing and programs, she said.

The library budget vote will take place Tuesday, May 21, between 3 and 9 p.m. in the Southold High School gymnasium.

For more information, contact Ms. MacArthur at 765-2077.

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