Sweden Town Board members are asking Governor Andrew Cuomo not to sign state legislation calling for the creation a Seymour Public Library District.
Town Board members voted unanimously during their July 28 meeting to make the request in the wake of the passage of bills in the State Assembly and Senate on June 17, which call for creation of a library district.
“We cannot support creating another taxing authority in our town,” Supervisor Robert Carges said. He noted the Sweden Town Board, “stuck it’s head out,” the last two years by agreeing to provide additional money to the library, a move which he said was not repeated by the Town of Clarkson or Village of Brockport which are also served by the library and contribute annual funding.
Sweden Town Board member Donald Roberts agreed. He said the last two years Sweden went above and beyond the normal funding commitment. “We wrote a check for a considerable amount of money to fund the library,” Roberts said.
The resolution passed states that Sweden elected officials and residents were not aware of the legislation prior to its being submitted to the Assembly and Senate, and that, “any portrayal by the Seymour Library or its representatives to the contrary is inaccurate, untrue and/or misleading.”
Additionally, the resolution states the town is committed to meeting the Seymour Library’s, “reasonable budget requests in the future,” and calls on the Clarkson Town Board and the Brockport Village Board to continue cooperatively funding the library to prevent the creation of an “unnecessary taxing authority.”
During the meeting, Seymour Library Director Carl Gouveia, apologized for the lack of communication with the Board.
“I thought Supervisor Carges was supportive. I’m sorry for the assumptions I made,” he said.
