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Voters approved the 2020 budget for the Rogers Memorial Library. GREG WEHNER
Voters from the Southampton and Tuckahoe school districts headed to the polls on Friday and handily approved the 2020 Rogers Memorial Library budget of $4,868,901, in a 194-35 vote.
Along with approving the budget, voters also chose to have two incumbents retain their seats to the library Board of Trustees. Incumbents Victoria Kahn and Isabel Sepulveda-de Scanlon both retained their seats, with Ms. Sepulveda-de Scanlon scooping up 126 votes, and Ms. Kahn collecting 118. Challenger Georgette Chapek collected the third-highest number of votes, 91, and Neil Brownlee received 61.
The approved budget represented a $173,045 — or 3.7 percent — increase from the current budget of $4,695,856 and the total tax levy will increase by $174,045, or 3.8 percent, from $4,599,756 to $4,773,801 next year.
Library officials estimate a 2020 tax rate of 0.1516 per $1,000 of assessed valuation — down 4 percent from the estimated 2019 tax rate of 0.1587 cents.
The budget gained support from 157 voters from the Southampton School District and 37 from the Tuckahoe School District — 28 voters from Southampton opposed the budget, as did 7 from Tuckahoe.
Staff Writer on Aug 5, 2019