The library is currently funded through appropriations from the Town of Richmond, the Town of Canadice, and the Town of South Bristol. While we have had good relationships with the Town in the past, we recognize that funding the library puts a strain on their budget.
Honeoye Public Library
Fact Sheet
The Honeoye Public Library Board of Trustees is asking the residents of the Honeoye Central School District to consider strengthening the way your Library is funded by making it more equitable and sustainable across the entire school district. This change will make it so that the Library’s budget comes from community-based funding consisting of one library tax approved and paid by all school district residents. This funding proposition will be about $0.2045 per $1,000 of assessed value. This proposition will be voted on by the School District residents May 2024.
What does it mean if the vote PASSES:
- The library will achieve sustainable funding which will ensure the library will be around for years to come
- The library will be better prepared to meet community needs
- The library will continue to be open the current number of hours
- The library will continue to purchase new books, ebooks, and movies to meet demand
- The library will maintain the current level of computer and internet access, and meeting room availability
- The library will be able to expand offerings of events and classes of all ages including technology help
- The library will continue to serve all the residents of the school district equally
What does it mean if the vote DOES NOT PASS:
- The library will not be able to continue to meet community needs
- Service hours will be reduced
- Fewer new books, ebooks, and movies will be purchased
- Meeting room availability will be negatively impacted
- Events and classes will be cut
Important information about the vote:
- Vote: May 21, 2024
- Location: Honeoye Central School building Auditorium entrance 8am – 9pm
- Honeoye Central School District residents 18 years of age or older who have lived in the school district for 30 days or more and are not otherwise prohibited from voting can vote
For additional information:
Contact Janelle Speca, Library Director, (585)229-5020 or jspeca@owwl.org
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the library asking the community to decide in the 2024 vote?
The Honeoye Public Library Board of Trustees is asking the residents of the Honeoye Central School District to consider funding the library through the School District Tax Ballot to make it a more equitable and sustainable resource across the entire school district.
How is this different from the way that the library is currently funded?
The Towns could lower library funding in the event of an economic downturn which would threaten library collections, programs, and hours. Community members choosing to tax themselves through the School District ballot would ensure that this would not happen.
How is the library funded?
Currently, the library’s budget is primarily made up of taxes residents pay the Town of Richmond ($91,800), the Town of Canadice ($27,529), the Town of South Bristol ($3,137).
Other sources include library fines, donations, books sales, and grants.
If the vote passes, the library’s budget will come from one primary source, a tax paid by residents of the Honeoye Central School District.
This would give the Honeoye Public Library ongoing and stable funding.
How is the library governed?
The Board of Trustees makes the decisions for the library. They decide on the hours of operation, how the library spends the funding it receives and other governing activities.
Decisions regarding hours of operation and library expenses are the responsibility of the Library Director and the Board of Trustees of Honeoye Public Library.
What will it cost the Honeoye Central School District residents if the vote passes?
The proposition being voted on will only impact the Honeoye Public Library, the tax money collected will support only the Honeoye Public Library.
If the vote passes, Honeoye Central School District residents will pay $.2045 per $1000.00 of assessed property value. For example, if your house is assessed at $100,000, you will pay $20.45 a year to fund the library.
Why now?
The library is facing rising cost due to increases in the minimum wage and other business expenses (material costs, building maintenance costs, etc).
How will this affect my school taxes?
This vote will add a line item for the library that will appear on the school tax bill. This vote does not impact school taxes. The school tax funds the school district, and the library tax funds the library. They appear on the same bill and are paid at the same time, but the school district and the library are two separate entities.
If the vote passes, the school will not control, own, or fund the library. The library will continue to be in the same building and operate as it always has. We will continue to be a part of the OWWL Library System and we will continue to offer the same services you are used to.
Who uses the library?
There are 1479 active registered patrons of the Honeoye Public Library.
How will this vote impact other libraries in the area?
Neighboring libraries like Bloomfield Public Library, Victor Farmington Library, Geneva Public Library, Red Jacket Public Library, and Naples Public Library all use similar funding models that follows school district lines.
Will additional library tax requests be made in the future?
If the proposition passes, voters in the school district will have to vote in favor of any change to the library’s taxing amount just like the School District. It is likely that the budget increases will be requested in the future to accommodate wage increases and other costs as they continue to rise.
What will happen if the vote is not passed?
The library will continue to seek allocations from the Town of Richmond, the Town of Canadice, and the Town of South Bristol. When these allocations fail to cover operating expenses, the Board of Trustees of the Honeoye Public Library will need to make difficult decisions about services, materials, and programs such as:
- Cutting hours of operation
- Decreasing the purchasing of materials, resulting in fewer new books, DVDs, computers, etc.
- Reducing programming for children, teens, and adults
- Limit the hours that the meeting room is available to community members
What changes will be made if the vote is passed?
If the proposition is approved, benefits to the community include:
- Ensuring that the library remains available at the most convenient times.
- Providing the most up-to-date technology for patron use.
- Allowing the Board of Trustees to approve building maintenance and improvement for safety, accessibility, and efficiency.
- Providing resources for new programming for patrons of all ages.
- A guaranteed minimum library budget of $180,000 to make sure that the library remains open and serves the community.
With the prevalence of the Internet and eBooks, isn’t the library being used less?
Families continue to come to the library to introduce their children to books and participate in story times, classes, and events. Older children and adults use the library for studying, borrowing books, and attending social events like book clubs, and other educational activities.
Computer, WIFI, and fax use has increased as some community residents depend on the library for reliable internet access. Community organizations use the space for meetings and events. Finally, Honeoye residents borrow close to 6,269 digital titles in 2022 through our Libby collection, which is funded in part by the library’s budget.
While checking out books will always be a core service of the library, we have grown in our relationship with the community. Providing education, equity of access, and comfortable space is what we bring to the community.
How was the initial budget of $180,000 set?
The Board of Trustees sets the budget for the library. They review prior year’s actual revenues and expenditures and future projections for revenue and expenses.
The library is currently open 28 hours per week, but it takes 90 hours per week to operate. This includes staff and volunteers. We currently have seven volunteers, excluding the board of trustees.
If the vote passes, going forward, the library budget will be subject to it’s own 2% tax cap, and as stated previously and the school district voters will have to vote on any changes to this amount.
Who is eligible to vote?
An eligible voter is a person who is a citizen of the United States, at least 18 years of age who pays taxes to the Honeoye Central School District.
PROPOSITION EXPLAINED
This year the Honeoye Public Library will be asking voters of the Honeoye Central School District to vote on a proposition that will create equitable funding across the school district. This is the proposition:
Shall the proposition be approved authorizing the Board of Education of the Honeoye School District to levy taxes annually in the amount of one hundred and eighty thousand, $180,000 separate and apart from the annual School District Budget, to support and maintain the Honeoye Public Library. Said appropriation will be raised annually by the tax upon the taxable property of said School District to be an annual appropriation thereafter until changed by further vote of the majority of voters of the Honeoye Central School District, and to be levied and collected yearly as are other general taxes.
The library’s funding will follow the boundaries of the Honeoye Central School District and will benefit the community by continuing to have free access to the library.
The Library tax, while separate from the school’s budget, will appear annually as a separate line on the school tax bill distributed in August/September.
All Honeoye Central School District properties would be taxed equitably to fund the library.($.2045/assessed $1000).