BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- As the Massena Public Library seeks to shift from a town entity to a school district library, officials with the Massena Central School District are aiming to educate the public about what that change could mean.

School district voters will have an opportunity to voice their opinion on the proposition when they head to the polls on May 21, at which time they will also vote on the school budget.

According to Superintendent Ron Burke, if the library were to become a school district library, voters would not weigh in on a yearly budget but rather only if the library were to seek an increase in budget.

At a recent special board meeting, Burke said he experienced a similar situation in Canton, where he was the superintendent prior to accepting the same position with Massena.

“In the future, any increase to that, I believe like Canton, would have to go back out to the voters for voter approval. Canton is always on the Canton Central School ballot as well for those increases and it does muddy the waters a little bit,” he said.

Burke did say that voters have "gotten used to seeing the library measure" on the ballot and understand that it is a separate entity from the school district itself.

Library officials have also sought to clarify that the library would not be controlled by the school board but would rather function entirely independent of the school district. All events, programming, staffing and similar needs would be handled by the library board, they recently said during a town of Massena board meeting.

In order to further clarify that point, Library Director Krista Briggs recommended the vote on the library should be held separately from the school district's budget vote.

“It’s often that schools like to distance themselves from these votes. I understand that. Taxes are a very sensitive subject and school budgets are a very sensitive subject and we don’t want to muddy the waters for you,” she told school board members.

But separating the vote would mean the school district would be responsible for procuring ballot machines and ensuring election inspectors could assist a second time, Burke said.

“We have to do the legal notice for that. We would have to secure the location. We also now have mail-in ballots, so those will have to be taken care of. There will be your regular absentee ballots, the printing of all of those ballots and postage on those. As a school district we are still responsible for making sure that the election process meets all legal requirements,” Burke said.

Briggs suggested that those expenses would not fall to the taxpayer however, with the library covering those costs from non-municipal funds.

Benefits for employees, including legacy costs, were also a topic in recent meetings, with Board Vice President Kevin Perretta questioning those costs.

According to Briggs, the library would be responsible for paying the benefits of library employees.

“Being established as a school district library does not mean that we are tied to the school in any way. You will have no responsibility to us. You have no obligation to us. We remain just a partner in the community,” she said.

But Burke said the district would have two responsibilities to the library, with the requirement to put future budget increases and trustees on the ballot.  

"Number two is to collect the taxes and then under a mutual agreement with the library, how often those payments get made to the library,” Burke said.

The possibility of the library transitioning to a school district library would also come with a budget increase from $504,133 to $679,990, if approved.

Town of Massena officials approved the $504,133 budget for the current fiscal year, however library officials say services and employees have been slowly cut in recent years due to budget decreases. If the library were successful in transitioning, more services can be offered, more employees can be added, part-time employees can once again receive benefits with increased hours of employment and library hours could be extended, officials say.

This is the second attempt in four years that library officials have attempted the transition after a failed attempt in 2020.

Voters in the towns of Brasher and Norfolk were resistant to the previous attempt and shot it down by a vote of 1,640 to 892.

If the vote were successful, residents that live within the Massena Central School District would all be responsible for paying for the library's expenses through school taxes.

Along with Massena, the district also encompasses parts of Brasher, Louisville and Norfolk.

Briggs previously noted that the financial difficulties the town of Massena has been facing in recent years has led to many cuts for the library. She said if the library were able to transition to a school district library, expenses would be spread out amongst a wider tax base, while also alleviating the burden on the town of Massena.

“Massena has had notable financial difficulties, so we are not the only ones to get cut. But, we are one of the first to get cut each time and we’re just trying to stop it," she said.