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Gardiner council approves library per-capita fee increase to $10.75
Summary
The Gardiner City Council voted unanimously Feb. 18 to raise partner-town per-capita library fees from $10.50 to $10.75 for FY27, a 6.9% increase; library trustees said the change completes a three-year standardization process and trustees proposed two-year rate cycles going forward.
Mayor Patricia Hart opened the Feb. 18 meeting of the Gardiner City Council and the body moved an item on the agenda to hear from library officials. Helen Stevens, chair of the Gardiner Library board of trustees, told the council trustees had spent three years standardizing charges across partner towns and voted unanimously to raise the per-capita charge to $10.75 from $10.50. Stevens said the change represents a 6.9% increase and was intended to equalize what previously had been an "unequal" system of differing town charges.
The change covers FY27 and trustees also proposed shifting to two-year rate cycles to give towns more predictability for budgeting. "Our per capita now would be $10.75 per person, instead of what they were originally at the $10.50 per capita," Stevens said.
Councilor Veronica Babcock moved to approve the FY27 library fees at $10.75 per capita; the motion was seconded and the council recorded a unanimous vote to approve. Mayor Hart thanked trustees and library staff for their work on the plan. The council approved the fee increase following department review and a public hearing in which no members of the public spoke.
The trustees told the council they had informed partner towns during the multi-year process and had sought a fair, per-capita approach across all towns. The trustees said moving to two-year cycles could reduce annual disputes at town meetings and provide better budget visibility for partner towns.
The council recorded the fee approval as part of its regular business and did not attach additional conditions to the change. The council expects towns to consider the change at their respective meetings as part of the FY27 budgeting process.
