Voters reject tax hike for Fox River Valley library

Voters in the Fox River Valley Public Library District overwhelmingly rejected a proposed property tax hike Tuesday that would build a new library and renovate an existing one.

Unofficial results show 14,920 votes against the measure and 7,520 votes in favor of it.

The library district referendum sought a property tax increase of 21 cents per $100 of taxable property value, which would have generated an additional $3.2 million in annual property taxes for the district - double what it collects now. The owner of a $100,000 home would have paid about $70 more in property taxes each year.

On top of staffing and future operation costs, that money would be used to fund a roughly $24 million project to build a new 40,000-square-foot library in West Dundee and make necessary repairs to the Dundee Library in East Dundee.