Smithtown OKs library budget tax hike

By a 3-2 margin, Smithtown residents on Tuesday approved a 2012 library district budget that raises the average homeowner's taxes by 2.2 percent.

Incumbent trustee Anthony J. Monteleone and Friends of the Library president Otis M. Thornhill won two available seats on the Smithtown Special Library District board of trustees. They defeated community activist Rosalind F. Palazzolo.

The $12.65 million budget passed 960-617. It increases spending next year by 1.2 percent over this year's $12.5 million budget.

Taxes on the average home assessed at $6,000 will rise 2.2 percent, to $291.25.

The library district stayed under the state's new 2 percent tax cap because the increase in the overall tax levy is 1.75 percent, according to the district's website.

Monteleone, a retired teacher and guidance counselor from Nesconset, led in the trustee election with 1,140 votes. Thornhill, a retired telecommunications executive from Commack, received 988 votes.

Palazzolo, of St. James, a retired auditor and accountant, received 707 votes.

The library district, which has four branches, is in the midst of a $21 million expansion project that includes the renovation of three branches and relocation of the fourth.

The Kings Park and Smithtown branches are closed while their interiors are gutted and rebuilt. The Kings Park branch is expected to reopen by year's end. The Smithtown branch is scheduled to be done by February or March.

The Nesconset branch, formerly located in a strip mall, reopened June 30 in a converted former state armory building on Smithtown Boulevard.

The Commack branch was reopened earlier this year.

Above: Children participate in the Go Batty at the Library event at the Smithtown Special Library District's Nesconset branch.