Another letdown for Sugar Loaf library patrons

Proposal to end double tax languishes in committee, By Linda Smith Hancharick Sugar Loaf — For the second time in as many years, state legislation that would have ended the double library tax for residents in Sugar Loaf has failed to make its way out of committee. “There are 75,000 people in the state who face this same issue,” said Mary Creagh, a resident of Sugar Loaf who has been working with both state and local officials to remedy the situation which has Chester residents in the Warwick Valley School District paying for both the town of Chester library and the Albert Wisner Public Library, Warwick’s school district library. “The state should fix it. This isn’t a tough thing to fix and the state can do it easily. But that’s not happening.” In early June the state Senate approved the bill which would have removed the 1,000 Sugar Loaf households from the Warwick Valley School District library—the Albert Wisner Public Library—and put them in the Town of Chester library district. For the second time in two legislative sessions, though, the bill introduced in the Assembly and co-sponsored by Nancy Calhoun (R-C-Blooming Grove) and Annie Rabbitt (R-I-C-Greenwood Lake) stayed in committee and was not introduced on the floor for a vote. With the current legislative session over, this bill won’t go anywhere else, according to Crystal Wolfran, a Rabbitt staffer in Albany. “There are rumors there might be a special session called,” said Wolfran. “It is highly unlikely they would take up this bill.” That being the case, it would have to be reintroduced in the next session. Creagh doesn’t think that is the answer. “Everyone admits this is a problem but no one is willing to do anything,” she said. And that includes the local library districts. “Laura (Auerhahn) a staffer from the state library committee said the committee feels it should be settled on a local level. The only way to fix it on a local level would be to revamp the charters. Neither library wants to do this.” Chester is in a unique position. Not only do 1,000 households get double taxed because they are in both the Town of Chester and the Warwick School District library districts, another 25 belong to both the Goshen School District library district and the Town of Chester library district. Creagh said she feels disappointed with the Warwick library board whose members met with Creagh before the March election where voters decided to build a new library and committed themselves to supporting this legislation. “Before the vote, Donna Applegate (president of the Albert Wisner Public Library board of trustees) committed herself to support this legislation,” said Creagh. “After the vote, she said the board was not in favor of it. Why weren’t those problems expressed prior to the vote in our meeting?” Applegate said the board is indeed committed to resolving the issue. The proposed legislation, however, was not comprehensive. “We do support resolving this issue,” said Applegate. “But it is a statewide issue. Do you take one part of Chester out of the Warwick district and leave the others in Goshen? We talked with the state Education Department. They support resolving it too. But it has to be done statewide. You can’t do it for one. You should do it for the entire state.” Taking 1,000 households from either library district will have a financial impact on the libraries. It is estimated that taxpayers with an average home in Chester, that is one assessed at $170,000, would pay approximately $146 in Warwick library operating costs and new building debt. Those same homeowners are now paying about $106 for the Town of Chester library via their town taxes. The way Creagh sees it, the library board went back on its word. “I am very disappointed,” she said. “They were not truthful.” Applegate said she did not go back on her word. “We have supported legislation that was sponsored by Senator (Thomas) Morahan and Annie Rabbitt in the past. This (legislation) just removed them without the voters choosing where they should go. It should come back to the voters,” said Applegate. Both Creagh and Applegate agree the current situation is unfair and should be changed. How that happens is another question. Applegate said she hopes to set up a meeting with state library association representatives sometime later in the summer or early fall. “Someone from the New York State Library Board needs to take a ride to Chester and Warwick, meet with both town supervisors and both library boards, and work it out,” said Creagh. “How long does it have to go on?”