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When the South Shore Press started asking about spending for the two new library branches and reconstruction of the main library, Rosalia wouldn’t give us a straight answer. She demanded that we put our questions in writing and when we did that via email, she wanted them on paper. After months of delay and threats of legal action under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), she was finally forced to admit the truth.
The projects are $6.8 million over budget bringing the cost to the taxpayers—so far—to $33.5 million, a huge burden on a working-class community that was promised a price tag 25% less than what they are now reporting.
Adding to Rosalia’s treachery is the fact that her denials of overspending came right before the library’s annual budget vote and election for board trustees. The director said emphatically in a Facebook post that our reporting of cost overruns were “NOT TRUE” (emphasis her’s) and that this community newspaper should be “ashamed” of itself.
Residents were appalled when they found out about the library management’s scheme to cover their overages through a bloated reserve fund, money collected from the taxpayers for books, programs, staff, and other services that will be shifted over to cover their mistakes. They argue that the pilfering of operating budget reserves for other purposes is standard practice, but it is not. Perfect example is the William Floyd School Board which gave residents a 17% tax reduction when they sharpened their pencils and found they could make do for less.
This publication dutifully reported the library’s reasons for the higher costs, estimated to be $3 million in May when trustee President Joe Maiorana fessed up to the overruns. We could understand the COVID-related cost increases, supply chain issues, inflation, and even the deficiencies discovered when they opened up the walls of the main building, but what we can’t accept are all the add-ons piled onto the projects after the fact. These were not communicated to the public when they were asked to approve the spending and we’re quite certain they never would have approved the borrowing of $22.7 million knowing what has finally been revealed.
In response to our coverage of the library's finances, Trustee President Joseph Maiorana released a lame statement arguing, “While the $6.86 million figure is accurate, it is just a snapshot in time, and it’s inaccurate and wrong to call these expenses ‘overruns.’ Virtually all these spending needs would have been impossible to anticipate at the time that voters approved the budget. Thus, the library didn’t ‘overrun’ its budget. In fact, circumstances forced the library to shift gears and direct spending toward new and urgent needs. You haven’t committed a ‘cost overrun’ if you suddenly run into problems no one could have foreseen. You’re not overspending on known costs; you’re spending on new needs.” Such a statement adds new meaning to the definition of malarkey coming from elected officials entrusted with our tax dollars.
This is why the South Shore Press is calling on Library Director Kerri Rosalia to resign. She clearly botched her role as a fiscal steward of our precious dollars and can’t be counted on to tell us the truth. We are also calling on Maiorana to vacate his post. Although he was somewhat forthright when he gave us the initial $3 million overrun number, the whole debacle happened on his watch and he’s got to go.
Managing taxpayer dollars is a huge responsibility. Clearly these two blew it and then tried to hide what they did. Thankfully, the Freedom of Information Law is in place and the community still has watchdogs who ask questions and report the facts. The Mastics-Moriches-Shirley community is hard-working and supportive of their library. They deserve transparency and the truth.