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The Parrish Art Museum.
UPDATE: Thursday, 4:15 p.m.
The Parrish Art Museum confirmed the final vote tally figures in a press release issued at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. In the release, the Parrish confirmed that the measure passed with 57 percent of voters approving and 43 percent dissenting.
"This is the first year that the vote was held at the museum, and that the proposition was separated from the school budget vote," the release says. "Following the examples of museums and libraries on the East End of Long Island and across New York state, the Parrish chose to move the vote to the museum to enable voters to experience the institution first hand, and to make clear that the proposition is not connected with the school budget."
UPDATE: Thursday, 10 a.m.
According to Mary Pontieri, the district clerk for Southampton Schools who was running the vote, 178 people went to the polls on Wednesday, with 101 voting yes and 77 opposed.
Representatives from the Parrish Art Museum have yet to comment.
UPDATE: Thursday, 9:55 a.m.
The vote to have $326,509 levied on behalf of the Parrish Art Museum appears to have passed, according to Southampton School District Officials, though official numbers are not yet available.
The Parrish Art Museum declined to release the results of the vote. Representatives from the Parrish referred all questions to the Suffolk County Board of Elections. When reached on Thursday morning, the Board of Elections said it was not in charge of the vote and referred questions back to the Parrish.
ORIGINAL STORY
Residents of the Southampton School District are being asked to support the Parrish Art Museum on Wednesday by approving a $326,509 tax to be levied on behalf of the organization for next year.
Until this year, district residents voted on the tax as a referendum that accompanied their annual school budget votes in May, and the district levied the tax on behalf of the Parrish Art Museum. This year, the vote on the Parrish levy will be held separately at the museum’s new home on Montauk Highway in Water Mill.
Other than the new location and date of the vote, the proposed levy represents no change from the past five years. It has not increased and falls below the mandated New York State tax levy increase cap of 1.46 percent.
Based on this year’s tax rate of 1.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, a taxpayer with a home valued at $500,000 will pay approximately $7.50 in Parrish taxes next year, according to the Southampton Town tax assessor’s office.
According to Scott Howe, the deputy director of the Parrish, the money will be used for a variety of programs, including five art exhibits showcasing five artists from across the country, a sixth exhibit focusing on the work of students from local schools, an after-school art program and an after-school outreach program. The museum also provides 300 tours and workshops throughout the year, with Southampton School District residents getting first priority when tickets are sold.
The money will also help support several partnerships with the Southampton School District, including the Parrish Art Club at the high school and an art history program for fifth- and sixth-graders.
Polls are open on Wednesday from noon to 8 p.m. at the Parrish Art Museum on Montauk Highway in Water Mill. More information about the vote, and about museum services, is available online at Parrishart.org.
