The village council approved an additional 0.02% tax Tuesday to raise $76,168 for the Forest Park Public Library’s building and maintenance projects.
According to Vicki Rakowski, the library’s director, the building and maintenance fund levy is an annual request for the library. Its approval doesn’t increase taxes for residents.
In 2008, a village referendum established a building and maintenance fund for the library. This fund sets aside money within the library’s existing levy to be used solely for maintenance and updates to the building.
“The building fund is done separately from the rest of the funds,” Rakowski said. “It’s basically the right to take up to 2% of your overall levy and stick it in a special fund.”
The library can, and does, also access money from their general fund for building maintenance. This includes preventative rehabilitation to the library, which was built in the ’90s, as well as fixing any unexpected repairs that arise.
However, the 0.02% tax increase is not a done deal.
Village Clerk Vanessa Belmonte will post a copy of the resolution, which the village council passed at its Oct. 15 meeting unanimously and without discussion, in the Forest Park Review newspaper by Oct. 30. If a referendum signed by at least 1,008 Forest Park residents — or 10% of registered local voters — is filed with the village by Nov. 22, the resolution will be put to a vote at a general or special election. The results of the village-wide election would determine if the village imposes the tax.
If no one files a petition, which Belmonte is required to provide to anyone who asks, within 30 days of the resolution’s publication in the paper, the 0.02% tax will be levied.
Rakowski said there haven’t been any voter-led referendums, and she’s grateful for the support of residents and the village council.
“We have a really supportive community,” she said. “The community respects and loves the library and understands that those are things that we have to plan for to keep ourselves in good shape for the future.”
Rakowski explained that, in the next five to 10 years, many of the library’s building systems, such as electrical and HVAC, and the roof, will need to be replaced as they approach the end of their lives. The library will likely use all of its annual building and maintenance fund for these projects, in addition to paying for them out of its general fund.
She added that the library’s board, which approved the tax increase in September, has been great at long-range planning for these projects.
“If you don’t have that worked out, you’re kind of dead in the water when a problem occurs,” Rakowski said.
