May 19, 2026 – Mark your calendar for the Library funding vote.
The Fred & Harriet Taylor Memorial Library of Hammondsport and the Pulteney Free Library are working together to establish a single library funding referendum through a public vote based on Hammondsport Central School District boundaries. This approach would not only strengthen library funding, but also eliminate the double library tax currently paid by about 25% of Pulteney residents—a situation created when the Prattsburgh Library moved to school district funding in 2017.
Residents of the school district can vote on the library funding referendum at the school district’s May 2026 budget vote (5/19/2026) and school board elections. If passed, the school district will collect the approved funding amounts, and turnover such funds to the libraries’ boards of trustees to provide public library services to the residents of the school district.
Additionally, the boards of the Fred and Harriet Taylor Memorial Library and Pulteney Free Library will work with the towns of Urbana and Pulteney to dissolve the current mechanisms that collect funds for the libraries from town residents. Moving to a single library funding referendum that aligns with the school district area, and dissolving the mechanisms that collect funds for the libraries from the townships will stabilize funding for both libraries, and create a tax efficiency for residents who live in the towns of Urbana and Pulteney as well as other areas around the school district.
What is the cost of the proposed funding propositions for school district residents?
The estimated 2026/2027 equalized library tax rate is .5587, or $55.87 for a home assessed at $100,000 in the Hammondsport Central School District to support the Fred & Harriet Taylor Memorial Library and Pulteney Free Library considering the 2027 budgets presented.
How will the proposition language read for school district residents on the day of the vote?
Library Funding Referendum – Proposition:
Shall the proposition be approved authorizing the Board of Education of the Hammondsport Central School District to levy taxes annually in the amount of $425,000 for the Fred & Harriet Taylor Memorial Library and $298,000 for the Pulteney Free Library and to pay over such monies to the trustees of both public libraries to provide services to the residents of the school district?
Questions? Please feel free to contact Barb Radigan, Director, Pulteney Free Library: radiganb@stls.org, (607) 868-3652
Check out the Fred & Harriet Taylor Memorial Library newsletter here: