To the Editor: For full disclosure, as a former Library Board trustee, serving almost four terms (12 years) and concerned taxpayer living in the City of Kingston for over 40 years, I believe this is not the right time to move forward with the renovation project that is being proposed by the Kingston Library and Board of Trustees at a proposed cost of $14 million.

Before the budget vote and trustee election this Tuesday, Sept. 20, every taxpayer in the city of Kingston should educate themselves as to the impact the proposed library renovation project will have on their tax bills. The public should know we are paying down a debt from the April 15, 2010 reconstruction bond of $820,000 that will be paid off in 2027. We still owe $304,000 for that expense. No one at the library’s information meetings offered full disclosure on the financial impact the two bonds will add to our tax bills. The public should question why it’s necessary to construct an “external outside elevator extension” for after-hour use of our community rooms. The addition will eliminate seven needed parking spaces for patrons who utilize the library.

The public should ask: How many participants register for each program offered at our Kingston Library and how many outside organizations request use of the community room throughout the year for after-hour use to justify such an elaborate renovation? While it’s necessary to replace our antiquated HVAC systems, there wasn’t a cost analysis for two separate projects; one to replace the HVAC and the other for the extensive renovation and reconfiguring the Library’s first floor and outside extension.

With the high prices of gas, groceries, utilities, rents, health insurance and other expenses, and people being forced out of their homes because they are financially unable to keep afloat, this $14 million project is not sustainable and not acceptable at this time.

Ellen DiFalco

Kingston