Palatine library tax hike wins easy approval

Palatine voters overwhelmingly approved improvements at the public library.

With all but one precinct counted, unofficial results showed 4,434 voters saying yes to a Palatine Public Library District tax hike, while 2,429 said no.

"We're really thrilled taxpayers value library services and are willing to show that," Executive Director Jeanne Dilger said.

"We really made a concerted effort to get all the information out there early on and any time anyone asked a question, we put it up on our website with the FAQs. We thought it was important to be open and honest about everything from the start ... people appreciated not having to seek out the information."

The district asked for permission to borrow $5.8 million over six years to fix a leaky roof, install energy-efficient lighting and upgrade the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system.

The library asked to increase the annual property tax levy 29 percent, from 27 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 35 cents. The owner of a house with a median fair market value of $266,000 will pay about $52 extra in taxes annually to the district.

Roof leaks have patches so "we think we're OK on the roof for a while," Dilger said adding that fixing HVAC problems is the first priority.

If the referendum failed, officials said the library would have had to cut hours and days of service, shrink its budget to purchase new materials, and reduce purchasing new technology.