Mattituck-Laurel Library 2026 budget passes
Mattituck-Laurel Library’s 2026 budget passed Tuesday night, with 103 votes in favor and 47 votes opposed.
The overall library budget for 2026 totals $1,816,067, a 4.4% increase from last year. Of that total, $1,789,817 will be raised by taxes — an increase of $2.77 per thousand of assessed valuation. For a household with an assessed valuation of $7,000, the proposed budget would increase library taxes by $19 for the year — totaling roughly $528.71.
The approved budget will allow the library to maintain services and staffing, library director Shauna Scholl said. It will also address the rising costs of facilities at the library in need of upkeep.
In 2025, 49,000 visitors and 277 new patrons have visited the Main Road library. More than 74,000 print and digital items have been circulated in 2025. The library also hosted 653 programs and saw 10,000 attendees across its Adult Services, Youth and Parenting, and Teen Departments.
Board trustees Jim Underwood, who earned 119 votes, and Katie O’Rourke, who garnered 117, were also reelected to the library’s board Tuesday night for three-year terms running from Nov. 10, 2025, to Nov. 13, 2028.
A separate $5.5 million bond proposal to renovate the library failed in June, with 230 votes opposed and 157 votes in favor. That bond was to have financed what would have been the first major interior renovations at the library in 25 years, according to Ms. Scholl.
“We still have things that we have to address, which we will do in other ways,” Ms. Scholl said. She and the library board will consider grant opportunities, tap into reserve funds or consider a loan to support other needs in lieu of the failed $5.5 million referendum.
