To the editor:

The Tiverton Town Financial Referendum will take place on Saturday, May 21, at Tiverton High School. Three budget choices will be on the ballot. It's important that the voters of Tiverton pay close attention to the consequences of their vote since it can have profound repercussions, especially for the library.

The 2015/2016 town budget gave $540,000 to the library.
According to RI Statutes Title 29 the library has to get as much as it got in FY 2015/2016 in order to receive the state library grant in aid which was $100,382.
In addition if the library does not receive as much as it got in FY 2015/2016, the town will lose the state library reimbursement money to pay for the library bond. Total cost of the bond is $537,750. The state's share is $327,699. Without the reimbursement money the town will have to cover the whole cost.
Together the state grant in aid and the state reimbursement come to $428,081.
The Town Budget Committee recommends that the library get $556,500 which is over the $540,000 and guarantees the state grant in aid and also the state reimbursement for the library bond.
Budget 3 only gives the library $500,000 which is less than was received for FY 2015/2016 and would result in the loss of $428,081 to the town. For $40,000 the town would lose almost a half million dollars if that budget were approved.
Budget 2 cuts even more from the town but leaves it up to the budget committee to come up with how the cuts are made. It's questionable as to whether the town could absorb cuts of almost a million dollars, and the library will be at risk.
The big concern is the loss of the state grant in aid and the state reimbursement money.  With the bond there is a contractual obligation so the town is obliged to pay it.  Loss of state reimbursement money would result in the town having to find the additional money and pay the full $537,750.
This would be a disaster for the library and the town.

For a little over a year Tiverton has had a new library. This library is the pride not only of the town, but also the state. It has won recognition from the state as “The Crown Jewel of RI Libraries” and more recently it has won the “Outstanding Smart Growth Project Award”

It has been embraced by the town. In all categories library usage has more than doubled. Its meeting rooms are routinely booked; children’s programs cannot keep up with demand. Adult and teen programs have grown. The town now uses the Community Room for the Municipal Court and various town commissions use its rooms for their meetings.

We’ve worked long and hard for a library we can all be proud of. Let’s not destroy it. I urge the town’s citizens to vote for Budget 1 from the Budget Committee.

Barbara R. Donnelly

Chairman, Board of Trustees

Tiverton Public Library