NorthEast-Millerton Library seeks budget hike

NorthEast-Millerton Library will ask voters to approve a budget increase on the Nov. 5 ballot.
John Coston
NorthEast-Millerton Library will ask voters to approve a budget increase on the Nov. 5 ballot.
MILLERTON — The NorthEast-Millerton Library is asking voters to approve a budget increase in this November’s election.
It has been 17 years since the library last asked the voting public to approve a budget increase. “Inflation is real and prevalent in our lives still, and that, of course, affects us,” Library Director Rhiannon Leo-Jameson said. According to the library’s website, “In the last several years, it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with the costs and continue to offer standard and new services to the community.”
Currently, the library funds its services through a combination of tax revenue, donations and grants. Many donations are earmarked for specific projects, like the museum pass program, and grants cannot be used for operating expenses, Leo-Jameson said. To keep up with increased material and labor costs, the library planst to request an increase in tax revenue from the community.
The board of elections has received the necessary signatures from community members for the revenue increase vote to move forward. Next, the library will meet with the town’s supervisor to hammer out the details of the budget increase.
How much the library will receive will depend on what is approved for and can vary based on different assessments. The revenue it does receive will support salaries, cover the cost of printed and digital materials in the library, pay for maintenance and other operating expenses, according to the library website.
A tax revenue increase will not result in a new charge on residents, but it will increase the existing library tax slightly. The exact amount that residents’ taxes will increase depends on the value of their homes. “For every $100,000 that your house is valued we will have it broken down,” Leo-Jameson said. Residents can find that breakdown on the library’s website once the proposal is ready.
The library has once again requested a federal SAM grant of $125,000, which would be used to restore the Annex. The library has been requesting the grant since 2020 but has been struggling to get accurate estimates of how much the renovations would cost.
“We have cut expenses and found more efficient ways to operate, but that can only go so far,” according to the NorthEast-Millerton Library’s website. “The only options left to us is for the library to start cutting services, whether that is shortening hours, purchasing less materials, and cutting programs. We will be looking at all available options.”
For information, go to www.nemillertonlibrary.org/414-vote
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity reportSept. 18 to Sept. 30.
Sept. 23 — Deputies responded to 1542 State Route 292 in the Town of Pawling for the report of a suspicious vehicle at that location. Investigation resulted in the arrest of Sebastian Quiroga, age 26, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. Quiroga to appear in the Town of Pawling court at a later date.
Sept. 30 — Deputies responded to Woodside Street in the Town of Pine Plains for a past-occurred verbal domestic dispute between a stepfather and stepson.Matter resolved without further police intervention.
PLEASE NOTE:All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in local courts later.
If you have any information relative to the aforementioned criminal cases, or any other suspected criminal activity please contact the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 845-605-CLUE (2583) or Emaildcsotips@gmail.com.All information will be kept confidential.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.