Port Washington Public Library voters passed an $8.25 million budget Tuesday by a margin of 442 to 31, locking in a 4.34% tax levy increase for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
The approved budget of $8,253,725 represents a 3.21% increase over the current $7,997,261 spending plan, and marks the library’s fourth tax levy increase in eight years. Real property taxes will rise to $7,830,725, up from $7,505,261 this year. Library officials confirmed the increase stays below the state’s tax cap.
Board President William Keller and Trustee Nancy Comer also won new five-year terms beginning July 1. Both are incumbents.
The same vote that passed the budget sent a clear signal about community satisfaction with how the Nassau County library has been run. Nearly 93% of voters said yes. That’s not a squeaker.
Keller framed the spending plan as a careful balance between keeping costs down and keeping the doors open for everything residents rely on. “The Board has prepared this budget with consideration of current economic factors, requirements to keep our facility in excellent condition, and the vital needs of our community,” Keller told Long Island Press.
The biggest line item is salaries and employee benefits, which account for more than $6.4 million of the total budget. Library materials, covering books, digital resources and media, come in at $497,000.
What’s driving all that activity? The numbers from 2025 tell the story. The library recorded roughly 285,000 in-person visits and circulated more than 228,500 print books, plus 105,000 e-books. Its website pulled in more than 250,000 visits. For a single-branch community library serving a town in Nassau County, that’s a substantial load.
Programming kept pace with those visit numbers. Staff ran more than 2,000 English language classes over the course of the year, offered 290 children’s story times, and hosted 40 musical events. The library upgraded its lab space with new furniture, a podcast studio, and a dedicated technology classroom.
New digital access arrived, too. The library introduced full access to The New York Times, including its Cooking, Games and Wirecutter sections. Residents can now use those platforms through their library card at no additional charge.
On the financial side, the library projects its total fund balance will sit at roughly $4.59 million by the end of fiscal year 2026, down slightly from $4.71 million the year before. Unassigned fund balance is expected to come in around $1.09 million. Voters can track how those projections hold up against the New York State Comptroller’s library financial data portal, which publishes annual reports for special districts including public libraries.
For homeowners in the Port Washington area, the tax levy increase translates to a real number on a real bill. The jump from $7,505,261 to $7,830,725 amounts to roughly $325,000 more pulled from the tax base. How that lands on any individual property depends on assessed value, but it’s a meaningful shift in a county where library districts layer on top of school taxes, town taxes, and a long list of special districts already testing household budgets.
Still, the 442-31 vote suggests most residents who showed up aren’t looking for cuts. Library boards that invest in programming and physical upgrades tend to earn that kind of margin. Port Washington has spent the past year showing what a busy public library looks like: packed story times, packed language classes, a building that circulates more than 330,000 items a year when you add print and digital together.
The budget takes effect July 1. Keller and Comer begin their new terms the same day. Library officials say they plan to hold programming at current levels while continuing facility improvements through the year. Anyone who wants to check what their local library district spends can look up comparative figures through the American Library Association’s library statistics resources, which aggregate data from public libraries nationwide.
The next budget vote for the Port Washington Public Library will come in spring 2027, when the board will again need voter approval to set spending for the following fiscal year.