Second new library bid gets Carol Stream OK

By Jack Komperda Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Carol Stream residents will again be asked this April whether they want to see a new library built in their village.

The village board unanimously approved the placement of a question on the April 5 ballot asking residents whether the Carol Stream Public Library could issue $19.5 million in bonds for the construction of a new facility.

The facility would be located at 2N540 Kuhn Road.

Library board President Robert Douglas was pleasantly surprised that the village passed the request without any discussion.

"We did our homework," Douglas said. "We listened to what the voters and trustees wanted and brought the tax burden down to what the majority of residents were willing to pay."

Should the proposed request pass, the owner of a $225,000 home would see an increase of about $98.

A survey commissioned by the library earlier this year found that the majority of residents would tolerate a tax rate increase no higher than $100, Douglas said.

"It's no guarantee, but we have a better chance of getting the vote," he said.

This will be the second time the library board will ask voters to ante up for a new library.

Voters rejected a similar measure last March.

While April's referendum request asks voters for more money than last time, residents will be getting a smaller facility than the library could have built last year.

Rising construction costs forced library trustees to cut about 12,000 square feet from the original building plan, including several meeting and study rooms, an atrium and some shelving space.

The original plan's cost would have exceeded $23 million.

Library board trustees will also be excluding any requests for more operating funds to run the new facility.

Should the building request pass in April without a supporting operating rate increase, library officials estimate they will have between two and four years' worth of sufficient revenue before having to approach voters again for another tax rate increase request.

Douglas said he trusts that residents would support the library down the line.

"While our building now is a nice building, it doesn't meet our needs," he said. "We can't fit another book in there."