Registered voters in the East Hampton Library District — which includes the East Hampton, Springs, and Wainscott School Districts — can cast ballots Saturday on the library’s $3.994 million budget for 2026.
Spending next year is expected to increase by just over $74,000, with rising personnel expenses accounting for nearly a third of that. The library will raise just over $2.99 million through taxes (a $390,573 increase). Other major sources of revenue include private fund-raising and donations ($419,000) and the annual Authors Night benefit ($300,000). The tax increase to an average household is estimated at $24.92. Voting will be in the library’s lobby from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“Since 1995, generous residents of the community and members of the library board have donated more than $25 million to the library. These funds have significantly reduced the necessary contributions by taxpayers to operate the library,” its executive director, Dennis Fabiszak, said in a budget message on the website.