Residents to vote on $24 million Fox River Valley library project
For more than a year, residents have been asked to weigh in on the future development of the Fox River Valley Public Library District.
Now, district taxpayers will decide during the Nov. 8 election whether they want to fund a $24 million project to build a new library in West Dundee and renovate an existing facility in East Dundee.
In a binding referendum question on the ballot, the library district is asking voters for a property tax increase of 21 cents per $100 of taxable value. If approved, the library district would collect an additional $3.2 million in annual property tax revenue - double what it collects currently - to fund construction, staffing and future operation costs.
But if voters shoot down the proposal, Director Roxane Bennett said, the library board will have to come up with a new long-term plan.
"The only thing I know is that we will continue to provide the best service we can provide with the (resources) we have," she said. "But our board will be faced with making some strategic decisions."
A citizen task force already decided earlier this year to downsize the scope of the project after a survey determined residents were concerned about a tax hike. Previously, the district proposed asking for an increase of 36 cents per $100 of taxable value to build a new 75,000-square-foot building at Recreation Drive off Randall Road.
Now, the size of the new facility has decreased to 40,000 square feet, Bennett said, which still allows the district to offer high-priority features, such as meeting rooms and study spaces. The district could also expand the library in the future if necessary.
Additionally, the downsized project means fewer renovations proposed for the 30,000-square-foot Dundee Library in East Dundee.
If voters approve the tax hike, Bennett said, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay approximately $70 more in property taxes each year.
The library district's overall tax rate would be about 42 cents per $100 of taxable property value. According to county records, the tax rate is 62 cents for the Algonquin Area Public Library District, 53 cents for Gail Borden in Elgin, 35 cents for both the St. Charles and Geneva library districts, and 28 cents for Huntley's library district.
The proposed new library would replace the existing Randall Oaks Branch Library, for which the library district rents about 5,000 square feet of space at a Dundee Township Park District recreation center.
"The park district has plans for that space when we're out of it. It's not something we can just extend indefinitely," Bennett said. "The longer we delay, the more we risk running into a situation where we don't have a facility on the west side."