NORWICH – With a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) project scheduled to get underway in coming months, an anticipated increase of approximately 2 percent is expected to be seen in Guernsey Memorial Library’s budget proposal.

Library Director Melanie Battoe says the increase has to do with the project referendum which was voted on and accepted in February 2006. The approved referendum totaled $760,000 and a bond was taken out in the amount of $660,000 after the library dipped into its reserve fund for $100,000 of the estimated expense. This year’s overall budget is expected to increase 6.4 percent or approximately $22,000 compared to the 2006-07 year. The total budget is $1,033,474 compared to last year’s $971,285.

“We also started having to pay for our own insurance and that too made a difference in the budget,” said Battoe.

Battoe says the HVAC project has been in the works for over four years and it wasn’t until now that it is getting started without taxpayers having to face any big tax increases.

“The heating system was guaranteed for 25 years and it is well over 40 years old; it desperately needs replacement,” said Battoe.