Villa Park voters reject request for new library

Villa Park officials will have to make another pitch to voters about why the town needs a new $24.9 million library.

With all precincts counted, unofficial tallies showed 63 percent opposed to the loan and 37 percent in favor.

A second ballot question, seeking an operating tax increase, also failed to get voter support. Unofficial totals on that measure were 70 percent opposed to the increase and 30 percent in favor of it.

"What hurt us was not so much people didn't want the library, it's the economic climate," library board President Robert Wagner said. "We're going to regroup ... and decide what the next steps are."

Library officials asked voters for permission to borrow $24.9 million to build a new library at Central Boulevard and Ardmore Avenue just south of the existing building. That loan, which would've been repaid over 20 years, was expected to add roughly $172 annually to the property tax bill of a $250,000 home.

The second measure sought to boost the tax rate by 8 cents per $100 equalized assessed value to run the new, larger building. The hike would've cost another $63 annually for the owner of a $250,000 home.