With the Montague Library vote set for Wednesday, June 24, a few facts addressing rumors
about the costs:
A “yes” vote means accepting an $11.3 million state grant and authorizing the town to borrow a maximum of $12.4 million. The project planners intend to reduce that amount by cost monitoring to avoid spending contingency funds included in the budget. And if the library is approved, a nonprofit fundraising campaign will open for charitable donations from businesses and other contributors.
Taxpayer contributions to the town’s cost will not necessarily cause a tax increase. Because
both the expense and the income sides of our ledger vary year to year, I view “tax share” or
“tax impact” as a more realistic label for how any one expense affects my tax bill.
For the new library, the maximum annual tax share for a residential property is projected at $49 per $100,000 of assessed value. However, our debts for the high school and police station will drop off in the next two years. Subtracting those obligations, the net library cost will be $29 per $100,000 of assessed value.
As for the opponents’ claims that future costs of operating Montague’s libraries will someday threaten other needed town expenditures, Montague’s financial policies prevent this possibility. Our departments and services do not compete with each other; each department’s budget is reviewed separately.
When we hear that a nearby community is pitting various departmental budgets against each other to find cuts in services, that community is almost always trying to avoid a Prop. 2-1/2 override, that is, a vote to raise taxes above their levy limit allowed by law. But Montague has taxed below its levy limit by $800,000 to $1.6 million since fiscal year 2023, due to a tough-minded commitment to these policies. And we’ve built reserve funds to provide sustainability, resilience, and backup, including capital reserves of $2 million.
I urge Montague voters to vote “yes” on June 24.
Ariel Elan, Library Building Steering Committee member
Montague