Cary, Fox River Grove libraries look at consolidating

The Cary and Fox River Grove public libraries are looking into possibly consolidating the two districts, but the initiative first would have to be approved by voters in a referendum question.

Cary Area Public Library attorney Bob Smith said at a joint meeting of the two library boards Wednesday night that the board members can’t make that decision on their own because the two districts have significantly different tax rates.

The Cary library has a maximum voter-approved tax rate 20 cents per $100 of equalized assessed value, library Director Diane McNulty said. The Fox River Grove Memorial Library has a current tax rate of just less than 42 cents, but that is expected to decrease in three years when the library pays off bonds it issued to build its current building, Fox River Grove library trustee Lauren Rosenthal said.

If consolidation were to take place, the new tax rate of the combined library district would be the lowest of the two current tax rates, Smith said.

The referendum question would have to be placed on the ballot in both communities via submission of petitions with at least 100 signatures each, and both communities would have to approve the measures, Smith said. There would then be a hearing, and a judge would appoint a new library board, Smith said. “It is a really cumbersome process,” he said.

The two boards agreed to look into doing a needs assessment analysis after July 1, when the next fiscal year begins, to examine the pros and cons of consolidating.

The Fox River Grove library already has set aside money in next year’s budget, Rosenthal said.

“Until an analysis is done, no one has a solid opinion,” Fox River Grove library Trustee Amy Dawson said.

“There are a lot of synergies between the two communities,” Cary library Trustee Scot Migaldi said. “We’re fairly excited to be at this point right now.”

Consolidation would make more services to library patrons, including having two library locations and an expanded catalog, McNulty said. However, the two libraries would also have to establish uniform policies, such as for employees’ health insurance contributions and more, she said. Consolidation also would mean the Fox River Grove library would be operating under a lowered tax rate.

In fiscal year 2010-11, the Fox River Grove library had an operating budget of $515,000, while the Cary library’s operating budget was $1.5 million, according to officials. The Fox River Grove library has 2,800 registered cardholders, while the Cary library has 20,800.

The next joint meeting is tentatively set for Wednesday, May 2.