Bedford libraries seek funding increase

BEDFORD, N.Y. - Bedford’s three public libraries, perennially unhappy with the size of town government’s financial support, are asking residents to force a far-more-generous municipal allocation.

In a joint effort, the libraries have placed a $2.6 million funding mandate on this November’s ballot. If approved, the town would be required to provide the libraries at least that sum—an increase of more than 46 percent over current funding—next year and every year going forward.

A property tax hike of $1.39 for each $1,000 of assessed value would fund the town’s larger contribution. Billed on a separate library line, it would have no impact on tax-cap restraints on other town spending, Comptroller Brian Kenneally said.

For the median Bedford household—a property with a market value of $862,100—it would mean an increase of $97 on the tax bill, the libraries said.

In a presentation at the Town Board’s Sept. 4 meeting, Terrie Paladino, president of the Bedford Hills library board, said, “Voter approval of this proposition will mean that our town libraries, and as a result our residents, will benefit from a stable, sustainable and reliable source of funding each and every year moving forward.”

She said the libraries will explain the ballot proposition and its benefits in detail at a 7:30 p.m. information session on Thursday, Sept. 18, in the Bedford Hills Community House.

Under the proposal, the three libraries would share $2,628,845 in town money, divided this way: Bedford Free Library, $766,999; Bedford Hills Free Library, $810,058; and Katonah Village Library, $1,051,788.

In return, the libraries promise both short- and long-term improvements, including expanded hours in Katonah and improved facilities in the Bedford and Bedford Hills libraries.

Supervisor Ellen Calves called the initiative a “tremendous opportunity” for the libraries. Privately run nonprofits, each is an “Association Library,” dependent on grants, gifts, residents’ donations and, most of all, an annual town allocation to pay operating expenses. This year, the town contributed $1,778,845, or 73.5 percent of those costs, the libraries said.

By contrast, the libraries maintain, “the average local government funding support for all other libraries in Westchester County is 94 percent.”

Most of this county’s 38 public libraries are municipal, school or special district institutions directly funded by property taxes. Bedford, unique among Westchester municipalities, is the only one with more than a single independently operated library and one of only a handful served by Association libraries.

Bedford’s Town Board, reacting more than 15 years ago to a global financial meltdown, sharply cut back town-funded support for the libraries. Albany’s imposition in 2012 of a cap on local-government spending further squeezed municipal funding statewide.

“From 2008 to 2013, local government contributions were either declining or stagnant,” the libraries said in their presentation. “After 2013, funding never returned to prior levels, therefore, any subsequent increase in funding occurred relative to a lower baseline.”

That created a “funding gap,” the libraries said, forcing them to “minimize staff, limit opening hours, rely on gifts and donations for day-to-day operations (a volatile and risky revenue source) and draw on reserve funds for operating costs, funds that should be used for emergencies and capital investments.”

November’s ballot initiative now gives Bedford taxpayers the last word on how much to spend on their libraries. The so-called “414 vote”—it’s defined by Chapter 414 of the Laws of 1995—empowers residents to ratify the libraries’ requested municipal contribution.

If voters on Nov. 4 support the $2.6 million in 2026 funding, it would require the Town Board to appropriate that amount and keep it in effect until changed in some future 414 vote.

“The requested funding,” the libraries said, “would provide a stable, guaranteed revenue stream, would eliminate the reliance on reserve funds for operating expenses and reduce the reliance on gifts and donations for day-to-day operations.”

If residents turn down the question, the Town Board would place a different funding amount, likely smaller and tax-cap-compliant, in next year’s budget. The 2026 spending plan must be adopted by Dec. 20.