| New York State Library |
The following document is briefer and less detailed than we had intended. We had planned a comprehensive set of questions and answers to address most of the concerns in public libraries of all types for the implementation of Chapter 414 of the laws of 1995 in New York state but New York's election law is, in places, about as vague, as precise, as complicated and as inscrutable as education law is for public libraries. To complicate matters further, the laws governing elections in cities, towns, villages and counties are not all the same.
Many of the answers, then, to the common questions include a suggestion that you consult with a local attorney and local municipal officials. The following is a first edition. We hope for comments from public libraries of all types from all parts of the state so that we may refine this document in succeeding editions.
The term "public library," in this document includes municipal, free association, school district and special tax district public libraries.
This publication is only a general guide: specific questions regarding the time limits, petition forms and expenses can only be answered by local election officials.
Before getting into the mechanics of placing a proposal before the voters, it is important for the library board of trustees and key library staff to meet and discuss the ramifications of the process. A total commitment on the part of the board and key staff is important. The process will require an enormous amount of detailed work and planning; strategic and tactical decisions must be made very early in the process to assure the greatest chance of success.
Timing: The 1995 general election in November is probably too soon upon us for use of the new law by most public libraries in the state. Placing a ballot proposal for an increase in public funds requires a very careful education campaign targeting voters who are likely to vote in favor of the proposition.
Public libraries in New York State affected by this law can thank Senator Hugh Farley and Assemblymen Martin Luster and Edward C. Sullivan who promoted the bill that finally became law. Governor George Pataki's strong endorsement (Appendix 2) of the bill is also greatly appreciated.
Michael O'Connor, Director
Southern Adirondack Library SystemEdward Lindner
Attorney at Law
Saratoga Springs, New York
§255 of the Education Law allows a petition of 25 voters to place the question of establishing a public library before the voters, but voting for the subsequent funding of the library, except in the case of most school district public libraries and special tax district public libraries, was not allowed to the voter.
This inequality has caused gross under-funding of many public libraries and unequal access and services for a large part of New York State’s population.
Prior to the passage of the new law, only three million people in about 200 communities in New York State had the right to vote on the public library budget; this right is now extended to almost half of the state's population and to almost all of the people in upstate New York.
The intent of the law is to provide equality to those voters who did not have a direct voice to support improvements in local public library funding and services at the local level.
The law is permissive; it is not a mandate. A library board happy with its funding from a local municipality may ignore the new law and continue the existing practices of requesting funds from the municipality.
It applies to almost all public libraries in the state except for those in the counties of Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Erie.
The new law also excludes libraries not members of a cooperative or federated public library system, namely Dryden and Diamond Point.
Also excluded are any special tax district public libraries where the statutory authority contains language pre-empting any general laws.
Using this law may be more difficult for some small city school district public libraries but we understand there may be an effort to amend the law to include those 14 public libraries in the future.
The rules for placing propositions on the ballot are different for different kinds of municipalities. Before you do anything else, it is important to meet with your local Board of Elections and municipal Clerk to discuss local requirements. For counties, towns and cities, you should talk to the County Board of Elections and the County Clerk, City Clerk or Town Clerk as appropriate. In Villages, talk to the County Board of Elections and to the Village Clerk, who also acts as the Village Election Officer.
Although anyone might collect signatures under the law, the petition process and setting the amount of the requested increase in local funds will normally be done by the library's board of trustees.
The board should appoint one person to be in overall charge and to form committees of individuals willing to work hard on assigned tasks. Such committees might be:
- Public education before, during and after the collection of signatures,
- Training volunteers to collect signatures of qualified voters residing in the municipalities
- Financing the public education campaign
- Liaison with election officials, other municipal officials as appropriate and with key community leaders (the inclusion of key community leaders as proponents of the ballot proposal is important)
- Legal issues
Generally, the law requires two things. First, a petition (see samples at Appendices 3 and 4) must be signed by registered voters in the municipality asking that the library budget proposition be placed on the ballot. The number of signatures required is equal to ten percent of the total number of votes cast in the municipality for Governor in the last gubernatorial election. Second, the library board of trustees must pass a resolution (see sample at Appendix 5) endorsing the placement of the budget proposition on the ballot.
If the library board does not endorse it, the matter simply dies.
When the petitions and resolution are endorsed, the budget proposition is placed before the voters at the next general election, after "due public notice." For most municipalities, this means the November election. For most villages, this means March.
It is wise to collect more than the 10% to protect against challenges to signatures of people who may not be registered to vote in the municipality.
If possible, get the 10% number in writing from the appropriate municipal official. In towns and cities, this is the county board of elections; in villages, this is the village clerk.
Again, check with local authorities. Generally, the original petitions and an original resolution (see sample at Appendix 5) from the library board would be filed with the County, City, Town or Village Clerk, who then is obligated to transmit a certified copy of the proposition to the Board of Elections. The Board of Elections is then obligated to place the proposition on the ballot.
This is one of the most important things to verify with the local Clerk and Board of Elections. At a minimum, however, the local Clerk must transmit the certified copy of the proposition to the local Board of Elections at least 36 days prior to the election itself. Your petitions and resolution must be filed in sufficient time to allow the Clerk to fulfill this requirement.
The County Board of Elections will give or sell you a list of the registered voters in the municipality. Signatures appearing on the petition may be verified against the list. Some counties have the ability to do special sorting of names.
Neither the new Education Law section nor the Election Law specifies any particular form. The safest tiling to do is use a form similar to that used for Nominating petitions. The samples at Appendices 3 and 4 may be shown to local Boards of Elections for comment before collecting signatures.
Because the law requires the library budget resolution to go to the voters at a regularly scheduled election, it is unlikely that there will be any additional expenses attributable to the library. In any event, according to the New York State Election Law, "all expenses related to any election... shall be a charge upon the town, city, village or other political subdivision or district involved." The expenses of an election for a library serving a municipality should, therefore, be paid by the municipality.
No. You cannot use public funds to encourage people to sign the petition or vote in favor of the proposal. You may, however, use public funds for educational purposes such as publicizing details of the library budget, how the increased funds will be used and the location of polling places. You should consult with your own attorney before spending public funds for these purposes to ensure that you do not cross the line between "educating" and "advocating."
Nonpublic funds, such as those of "friends of the library," or a group organized specifically to promote the proposition, or from other private sources may be used to encourage people to sign the petition and to vote for the ballot proposal, provided that this does not conflict with a group's non-profit status.
No. The law allows only for a proposal to increase the library's budget.
Yes, it may, whether the current municipal contribution is based on a public vote or not.
Yes, but remember that you will have to acquire signatures equal to at least 10% of the number of votes cast for Governor in the last gubernatorial election throughout the entire county.
The law requires "due public notice" but does not define the term. Check with the City or Town Clerk (or in the case of villages, with the Village Clerk) and the County Clerk for phrasing and when such a notice should be advertised. If there is no established practice for public notices of ballot proposals, publishing a legal notice is still strongly advised. The notice should be published in the official newspaper of record for the municipality where the vote will take place. Appendix 7 contains a sample legal notice.
It would be advisable to ask for only a modest increase the first time and to clearly identify in the public education campaign why the increase is sought and the specific purposes to which the increase will be put. After the modest increase is approved (assuming the proposition language includes the word annually," as in the sample at Appendices 3 and 4), the local government may never decrease the budget from that amount.
Absolutely yes.
The new law does not prohibit this but such an action, invading another library's turf, would probably create lasting enmity and bitterness with your neighbors. It would be far better to work with the neighboring library's board of trustees with the purpose of strengthening the finances of both libraries so that imbalances in borrowing can be minimized.
Yes. The proposition must stipulate how the money will be allocated to each of the libraries specified in the proposition. Consult an attorney on the wording of the petition and the proposition. Note that when a library is funded by two or more municipalities, a vote for a budget increase in one does not automatically drive an increase in the other(s).
According to the new law, the increased funding level will not apply to any budget adopted prior to the date of the election. Since in most municipalities the budget is adopted after election day, the new funding level should appear in the next annual budget after the election.
If the budget were adopted prior to the election, then the increased budget would take effect in the year after next.
If the amount of the library's budget was established by a previous public vote, the same amount must be paid to the library by the municipality in the succeeding year. This assumes that the previous proposition contained the word "annually," as in the samples at Appendices 3 and 4.
If the amount of the library's budget was never established by a public vote, the municipality may fund your library at whatever level it wishes, in the same way as before the new law was enacted.
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the funding of certain libraries
Became a law August 2, 1995, with the approval of the Governor.
Passed by a majority vote, three-fifths being present.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 259 of the education law, as amended by chapter 708 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
1. A. Taxes, in addition to those otherwise authorized, may be voted for library purposes by any authority named in section two hundred fifty-five of this (chapter) PART and shall, unless otherwise directed by such vote, be considered as annual appropriations therefore until changed by further vote and shall be levied and collected yearly, or as directed, as are other general taxes. In the case of a school district the appropriation for library purposes shall be submitted to the voters of the district in a separate resolution and shall not be submitted as a part of the appropriation of the necessary funds to meet the estimated expenditures of the school. District. All moneys received from taxes or other public sources for library purposes shall be kept as a separate library fund by the treasurer of the municipality or district making the appropriation and shall be expended only under direction of the library trustees on properly authenticated vouchers, except that money received from taxes and other public sources for the support of a public library or a free association library or a cooperative library system shall be paid over to the treasurer of such library or cooperative library system upon the written demand of its trustees. All such moneys paid over to a public library treasurer shall be deposited and secured in the manner provided by section ten of the general municipal law and the library trustees or the library treasurer, if the trustees shall delegate such duty to him, may invest such moneys in the manner provided by section eleven of such law.
B. EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN THIS PARAGRAPH, IN ANY MUNICIPALITY SERVED BY A CHARTERED COOPERATIVE OR FEDERATED PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM, WHENEVER QUALIFIED VOTERS OF SUCH MUNICIPALITY, IN A NUMBER EQUAL TO AT LEAST TEN PER CENTUM OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VOTES CAST IN SUCH MUNICIPALITY FOR GOVERNOR AT THE LAST GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION, SHALL SO PETITION AND THE LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES SHALL ENDORSE, THE QUESTION OF INCREASING THE AMOUNTOF FUNDING OF THE ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET OF A MEMBER~LIBRARY &F SUCH PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM BY SUCH MUNICIPALITY TO A SUM SPECIFIED IN SAID PETITION, SHALL BE VOTED ON AT THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION OF SUCH MUNICIPALITY, PROVIDED THAT DUE PUBLIC NOTICE OF THE PROPOSED ACTION SHALL HAVE BEEN GIVEN. AN INCREASE IN LIBRARY FUNDING PROVIDED PURSUANT TO THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL NOT APPLY TO A MUNICIPAL BUOG ET ADOPTED PRIOR TO THE DATE OF SUCH ELECTION. THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL NOT APPLY TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES, WHICH ARE MEMBERS OF A FEDERATED PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM THE CENTRAL LIBRARY OF WHICH IS LOCATED IN A CITY OF MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND INHABITANTS.
§ 2. THIS ACT SHALL TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY.
THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK SS: (JURAT PLACEHOLDER)
Pursuant to the authority vested in us by section 70-b of the Public Officers Law, we hereby jointly certify that this slip copy of this session Law was printed under our direction and, in accordance with such Section, is entitled to be read into evidence.
JOSEPH L. BRUNO
TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SHELDON SILVER
SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM filed with Senate Bill Number 3058-A, entitled:
"AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the funding of certain libraries"
APPROVED
Voters served by school district libraries and special tax district libraries are authorized to vote on library funding. Voters served by municipal libraries and free association libraries, however, are not authorized to vote on library funding. Funding of these libraries is determined by the governing bodies of the municipalities they are chartered to serve.
This bill will allow citizens served by municipal libraries and free association libraries located outside of New York City and Erie County to vote on whether the municipality they live in should increase its funding to a library that serves the municipality. To be on the ballot such a proposition would have to be supported by 10% of the voters of the municipality and be endorsed by the board of trustees of the subject library.
I believe that citizens should have a direct voice in their government. Direct participation by citizens in the governmental decision-making process results in policy decisions that are more reflective of the values and concerns of the citizenry. The bill before me today is similar to a bill I proposed which gives New Yorkers the constitutional right of citizen initiative and referendum.
In addition to allowing taxpayers, rather than tax spenders, decide how much of their tax dollars shall be spent ill support of local libraries, this bill will help to evenly distribute the cost of financing public libraries. Under the existing library system structure, the residents of some municipalities that do not fund a library or that contribute very little to library funding are permitted to use the same facilities that the residents of municipalities that contribute much more are using. This inequity is not always caused by disparities in community wealth. Rather, in some library systems, certain municipalities are simply freeloading off other municipalities. Although this bill will not automatically eliminate this problem, it allows to voters of communities to decide to increase their library contribution if they feel they are not contributing their fair share.
This bill is good for many New Yorkers because it gives them a direct voice in an important governmental decision. It is good for libraries because it is likely to make them financially stronger. That, too, is good for New Yorkers.
The bill is approved.
Governor Pataki signed the above on August 2 1995
(Signed) GEORGE E. PATAKI
(IMPORTANT: CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL BOARD OF ELECTIONS BEFORE USING THIS FORM!)
I the undersigned do hereby state that I am a registered voter of NAME OF MUNICIPALITY; that my present place of residence is truly stated opposite my signature hereto, and that I do hereby petition that the following question be placed upon the ballot and voted on at the next general election of the NAME OF MUNICIPALITY:
SHALL THE ANNUAL CONTRIBUTON OF NAME OF MUNICIPALITY FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET OF NAME OF LIBRARY BE INCREASED BY DOLLAR AMOUNT ($ XXX) TO THE SUM OF DOLLAR AMOUNT ($ XXX) ANNUALLY
DATE, SIGNATURE, RESIDENCE ADDRESS ,WARD (IF ANY) OR ELECTION/TOWN/ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
(IN NASSAU AND SUFFOLK) DISTRICT CITY
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Additional signature lines, etc.
(Print the following statement at the bottom of each Petition sheet.)
I, NAME OF WITNESS, state: I am a duly qualified voter of the State of New York and I am also duly qualified to sign the petition. I now reside at RESIDENCE ADDRESS AND POST OFFICE ADDRESS (if not identical) which is in the ELECTION DISTRICT (fill in district), of the WARD/ASSEMBLY DISTRICT (fill in Ward. if any. and/or Assembly District in Counties of Nassau and Suffolk in the NAME OF MUNICIPALITY in the County of NAME OF COUNTY.
Each of the individuals whose names are subscribed to this petition sheet containing FILL IN NUMBER signatures, subscribed the same in my presence on the dates indicated and identified himself or herself to be the individual who signed this sheet. I understand that this statement will be accepted for all purposes as the equivalent of an affidavit and, if it contains a material false statement, shall subject me to the same penalties as if I had been duly sworn.
Date: ________________________
Signature of Witness
CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL BOARD OF ELECTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL RULES REGARDING PAGE NUMBERING AND COVER SHEETS.
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A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF
THE WESTON TOWN LIBRARY
A meeting of the Board of Trustees of the WESTON TOWN LIBRARY was held at 4 p.m. on the 15th day of July 1995.
The following Trustees were present, constituting a quorum of the Board: Thomas Able, Kathleen Baker, Richard Carter, Eileen Dennis, Steven Edwards, Margaret Francis, Robert George, and Denise Harris.
The following motion was made, seconded and unanimously carried:
WHEREAS, there has been presented to the Board of Trustees of the Weston Town Library a petition signed by qualified voters of the Town of Weston in a number exceeding ten (10%) per centum of the total number of votes cast for Governor in the Town of Weston at the last gubernatorial election, asking that the following question be placed upon the ballot and voted on at the next general election of the Town of\Weston:
SHALL THE ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION OF THE TOWN OF WESTON FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE WESTON TOWN LIBRARY BE INCREASED BY T\~LVE ($12,000.00) DOLLARS TO THE SUM OF TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND ($200) 000.00) DOLLARS ANNUALLY,
and
WHEREAS, the endorsement of this Board of Trustees of the Weston Town Library is required before such question may be placed upon the ballot
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that this Board of Trustees hereby endorses the petition presented to it and directs that the following question be voted on at the next general election of the Town of Weston:
SHALL THE ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION OF THE TO\VN OF WESTON FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE WESTON TO\VN LIBRARY BE INCREASED BY TWELVE THOUSAND ($12,000.00) DOLLARS TO THE SUM OF TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND ($200,000.00) DOLLARS ANNUALLY,
Thereupon the resolution was passed by a vote of eight (8) in favor, none (0) opposed.
The undersigned, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Weston Town Library, hereby certifies that the above is a true copy of a resolution passed by the Board of Trustees of the Weston Town Library on the 15th day of July 1995.
____________________
Secretary
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(LETTERHEAD) August 1, 1995 Ms. Susan Adams Dear Ms. Adams: Enclosed please find a certified copy of a resolution adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Weston Town Library together with an original petition consisting of 49 pages and containing 473 signatures asking that the following question be placed on the ballot and voted on at the next general of the Town of Weston:
Pursuant to NYS. Election §4-108, please transmit a certified copy of the text of this ballot proposal and a statement of the form in which it is to be submitted to each appropriate Board of Elections within the time limits set forth by law. Please note that pursuant to NYS. Education Law §259(1), "due public notice" of this proposed action must be given prior to the election. Thank you for your assistance. If we need to do anything further to place this question before the voters at the next general election, please advise. Very truly yours, Kathleen Baker (NOTE: THIS SAMPLE LETTER IS FOR USE WHEN SUBMITTING A BUDGET VOTE TO THE VOTERS OF A TOWN. IN OTHER MUNICIPALITIES, THIS LETTER WOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE APPROPRIATE MUNICIPAL OFFICIAL) |
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NOTICE OF SUBMISSION OF QUESTION
Further notice is hereby given that said election shall be held at the Town Hall in the Town of Weston,
on the 7th day of November 1995, and that the polls will be open on that day between the hours of 8 a.m.
and 8 p.m. |