Voters OK Brentwood library budget

Voters have approved the Brentwood Public Library’s $6.7-million budget for 2011-12, which increases spending by 2.8 percent. The vote was held Wednesday.

The budget will raise the library tax on an average home, with assessed value of $35,000, to $294, an increase of $2.42 over the current year, according to the library’s director, Thomas Tarantowicz.

“We are trying to be as conservative as we can during this time,” he said. “We appreciate the public’s support of the budget.”

Tarantowicz said library officials used several cost-cutting methods, including focusing on online materials rather than purchasing physical books and using energy-saving light fixtures and light bulbs.