Riverhead Free Library budget

Riverhead Free Library voters will decide a $5.75 million budget and elect three trustees on April 14.

As we approach the April 8 budget vote, we want to address concerns and clarify a few key points regarding our transition away from the Friends of the Riverhead Free Library.

Voters approved Riverhead Free Library’s 2024-2025 budget yesterday and elected Mary Byrne McDonell, Mitchell Hagler and Susan Bergmann to the library's board of trustees.

The $5.2 million operating budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year will require a tax levy increase of $25 for the year on at the "average" home in the school district.

The proposed operating budget requires a tax rate of $5.98 per $1,000 of taxable assessed value, an increase of $29 per year for an 'average' home in Riverhead.

Riverhead school district voters approved budgets for both libraries in the district. The Riverhead Free Library's proposed $4.2 million operating budget passed by a vote of 176 to 91. The Baiting Hollow Library's proposed $17,962 budget passed by a vote of 176 to 86.

“You’ve got to change with the times. You’ve got to roll with it,” said Riverhead Free Library director Kerrie McMullen-Smith. The library has implemented virtual programming, including children's programs, concerts and author talks.

Polling takes place at the library today from 10 a.m. through 8 p.m.

It's an unusually large field of candidates for the library board this year. There will be a meet-the-candidates night at the library Monday, March 25 beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Riverhead school district voters approved operating budget proposals for Riverhead Free Library and Baiting Hollow Free Library and elected four trustees at the Riverhead library.