Regardless of how you feel about the Rockport Library Committee’s proposal for a new library at the RES site, many residents are worried about the tax implications. Some people are afraid they will not be able to keep their homes. I want to reassure them that the potential costs of a bond should not affect their judgement unnecessarily. Vote however you want to, but don’t vote due to false fears.

The Library Committee consistently mentions raising a minimum of half the costs through donations. If we take the largest total sum mentioned, $4 million, and look at a 20-year bond for $2 million using the cost estimator at the Maine Municipal Bond Bank’s current interest rates, total annual interest plus principal will start at $150,350 the first year and reduce to $101,900 the last year.

By the 2013 state and Rockport property valuations, Rockport is valued at $943,150,000. Dividing the maximum $150,350 payment by the valuation yields a cost per $100,000 of $15.94. If the average value of a home in Rockport (Fiscal Year 2014-15 budget, pg. 44) remains at $300,000, the average taxpayer will see his/her property tax rise by $ 47.82 per year ($3.99 per month, or 92 cents a week). 

If another librarian is needed to patrol the vast new spaces, that cost, paid by the taxpayers, will be (per the FY 2014-15 budget) $33,497 annual salary. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates an additional 31.2 percent for benefits, totaling $43,948.06. Spread that across the town’s property and it yields $4.66 per $100,000, or $13.98 per year for a $300,000 home. 

Expensive, immense library? Grand total, $61.80 per year, $1.19 per week. Per home, not per person. 

There are lots of things to talk about when we talk about library, but the tax isn’t really one of them.

Jan Rosenbaum lives in Rockport.