Voting

We are a school district public library planning a capital project. The question is whether or not the project has to be approved by a public vote. We have been given money from our assemblyman towards the cost of the construction of one item in the plan.

There are a few scenarios where a capital project, such as a renovation, could start with a vote of the electorate of a school district library.[1]  If the project is subject to a bond, requires a tax levy increase, or is somehow tied to a referendum, the voters' go-ahead might be needed before work[2] can begin.  In additi

[My library's] community is calling for a member of the staff to have a seat on the board as a voting member. However, I am searching for something in the trustee handbook or DLD regulations that explicitly states this. I am not aware of any library that has ever had a staff member sit on the board as a voting trustee.

There are many reasons a not-for-profit organization, such as a library, may contemplate employee membership--or structured involvement--on the governing board.

Common reasons are:

Our by-laws name certain committees as committees of the corporation --- "No such committee shall have the authority to bind the board. Members of such committees of the corporation, who may be non-trustees, unless otherwise designated, shall be appointed by the President."

This reply will answer the questions up-front, and then tackle the concern about the full board not seeing a matter since it was voted on in committee in the "background and commentary" section.

The questions:

1.  Can the non-trustee members of a committee vote if one is called for in the committee?

For public libraries seeking school ballot funding, there's some gray area around whether a petition with signatures of eligible school district voters needs to be submitted to the school. Is the petition actually needed and if so, what laws and policies define this process?

When I started writing “Ask the Lawyer” in 2016, my daughter was two years old.

I would like to be able to answer this question like a two-year-old Molly and say simply (and loudly): “NO!” (you don't need a petition).

Our public, municipal library wants to seek funding through a school board levy.  The boundaries of the school district we’re petitioning are outside (but include) our municipality.  Are there any legal impediments to a public, municipal library going on the school district ballot?  We have reached out to New York State Ed’s Division of Library Development and NYLA, but seek a lawy

Perhaps because our nation was born resisting taxes, few things can rile a close-knit community so much as a good old-fashioned tax levy.  This is one area where the legal issues might be simpler than the range of human emotions.