Information about the upcoming library vote is pretty straightforward — voting on the proposed renovation and expansion takes place Saturday, June 17, with registration on June 8 and absentee ballot applications due June 9.
So what’s this about the vote being “ordered by the Board of Education?” And, with a nod to the late great Tina Turner, what’s DASNY got to do with it?
Voting on library funding
When it comes to library funding — whether for budget increases or special projects — the school district manages the voting.
That’s because, while the school and library are governed separately by independent boards, both entities operate under the authority of the New York State Board of Regents. And state education law dictates that school districts handle the administrative functions surrounding voting for small libraries like ours.
So don’t be surprised if you see a notice announcing the library vote as “ordered by the Board of Education.” The proposal comes from the Library Board of Trustees; in a formality, the school board enacted a resolution authorizing its clerk to manage the vote.
Read this explainer on the NYS Education Department website for more on the administrative relationship between libraries and schools.
Absentee ballots
That special relationship is also why you must apply to the district clerk for an absentee ballot if you aren’t here to vote on June 17.
Please fill out this application, print it, and deliver it to Jacki Dunning at the school (by mail to Shelter Island UFSD Clerk, PO Box 2015, Shelter Island, NY 11964). The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is June 9 if you need Dunning to mail the ballot itself (you can get one in person up to the day before the vote).
Dunning will send you back the actual ballot, which you will need to complete, sign, and return to her in person by June 16 or, if by mail, arriving no later than 1 PM on June 17.
Voting and voter registration
Voting on June 17 is from 10 AM and 4 PM at the library. Voters registered on Shelter Island may take part (if you voted in the recent school election or within the last four years for Town positions, you’re already on the voter roll).
But for those who still need to get on the district roll, registration will occur at the library on Thursday, June 8, from 2 to 8 PM (find the NYS voter registration form here and fill it out to submit at the event).
This article focuses on library voting and the ballot; you can find project details in our post: “Learn about a $9.5M proposal to renovate and expand the library.”
What’s on the ballot?
Voters are asked to give a simple Yes or No response to the following five-part question:
“The Board of Trustees of the Shelter Island Public Library Society (the “Library”) located in the Town of Shelter Island, Suffolk County, New York, is hereby authorized:
(i) to construct additions, alterations, and improvements to the Library building located at 37 North Ferry Road, Shelter Island, New York (the “Project”), and to expend, therefore, including the reimbursement of prior expenditures made by the Library for the Project, not to exceed $9,500,000, plus any additional amounts received by the Library in connection with the funding of said project;
(ii) to finance such cost by borrowing a principal amount not to exceed $9,500,000 from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (the “Dormitory Authority”), a qualified industrial development agency, local development corporation or other lending institution(s);
(iii) to cause the appropriate taxing authority, or to authorize and direct the Shelter Island Union Free School District, pursuant to Education Law Section 259, to authorize and direct the appropriate taxing authority to levy, therefore, a tax payable in annual installments not to exceed $727,000 per year, which installment of the tax shall be in addition to the amount raised annually by tax for the Library’s annual appropriations, over a maximum period of thirty (30) years for the payment of all principal, interest, redemption premiums, if any, and expenses relating to the financing of the Project;
(iv) to assign and pledge all of the said tax to the Dormitory Authority, industrial development agency, local development corporation, or other lending institution(s); and
(v) to enter into mortgages, loan agreements, and any other agreements and/or to take any and all other actions incidental or necessary to the completion of the Project and the financing thereof.“
And what’s DASNY got to do with it?
The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) is a construction authority and finance agency specializing in public works. The library board may decide to use DASNY for financing; first, it has to meet specific eligibility requirements, including being added to the DASNY statute by the Legislature.
Borrowing through DASNY may reduce financing costs compared to other options. That’s because DASNY is one of the country’s top issuers of low-cost, tax-exempt bonds.
So it’s essential that the wording of the ballot comports with DASNY requirements; this keeps open the option of using DASNY financing.
What are ‘any additional amounts?’
At the end of ballot section (i), reference is made to “any additional amounts received by the Library in connection with the funding of said Project.”
This refers to private fundraising that’s already underway in the form of a pledge drive. The library cannot yet ask people to donate; voters must first approve the project. But it has been asking for commitments (you can fill out a “statement of intent” form here). And numerous individuals have pledged, including all members of the Board of Trustees and these Island organizations:
- Friends of the Shelter Island Public Library
- Senior Citizens Foundation of Shelter Island
- Garden Club of Shelter Island
- Shelter Island Lions Club
The library says any funds raised will be applied to offset taxpayer costs by reducing the amount borrowed or paying it back faster. And fundraising isn’t a one-time endeavor; it may continue throughout the lifecycle of the financing mechanism.
How to learn more and provide input
The library website offers extensive information about the proposal, including conceptual drawings and illustrations of how the addition may look and how the existing interiors could be reshaped to produce a coherent structure.
Much time and effort has gone into working out these concepts. But the library team welcomes feedback, knowing that sometimes when you sit with a project for so long, you can overlook details that are obvious to fresh eyes.
Once funding is in place, the architects will incorporate all the feedback into actual construction drawings.
If you want to know more, Library Director Terry Lucas and trustees host one last informational meeting on Wednesday, June 7, at 5 PM in the library’s lower-level Community Room.
If you can’t make it, you can watch recordings of earlier sessions on the library website. In addition, there’s a FAQs page with answers to common questions. And students in the SITV program at Shelter Island School created a short video. All are posted on the library website.
Lastly, Lucas says she’s happy to take additional input or to answer any inquiries; contact her at 631-749-0042 or tlucas@silibrary.org.
