Guttenberg officials are irate over the latest bill from the North Bergen Public Library, which states that the town will have to pay a 50 percent rate increase for residents to continue utilizing the library’s services. Because Guttenberg doesn’t have a free public library of its own, the residents have used the North Bergen library for years, with the town paying a fee to North Bergen to use the facility and the services. The town was paying $44,000 a year to the library for use, but it recently received notification that the bill has gone up to $66,000 for 2000 and will increase to $75,900 for 2001. The town had been paying the flat $44,000 fee since a contract was reached in 1993 and there had been no rate increase during that time. Because the contract recently expired, the new rate was attained and sent to town officials. According to figures from a state formula based on the town’s population, it should be paying more than $143,000 per year, so North Bergen officials believe that the rate increase is still reasonable. But Guttenberg officials are upset, thinking that the bill is too high. They are citing a law that apparently states that contracting libraries cannot raise their rates by more than 15 percent in a given year. “We have always had a good relationship with North Bergen,” said Councilman Javier Inclan, who is also in charge of the township’s public affairs. “I’m not upset that there is an increase. I’m upset that we haven’t been notified prior to this. Maybe if we knew something six months ago, then we would have been warned. But to have this thrown on our desks and say, ‘Hey, vote on this.’ It’s not going to happen. Not with a 50 percent increase.” Inclan also believes that the number that the North Bergen Library is using as the amount of Guttenberg residents that frequent the library is slightly exaggerated. “The library set a number of 4,500 Guttenberg residents that use the library,” Inclan said. “That can’t be possible. Out of 8,200 residents, 4,500 use the library? My library card is probably in that list and I haven’t been there in 10 years. It’s not an acceptable number.” North Bergen Free Public Library Director Sai Rao would not comment on the issue, saying that she had been advised by legal counsel to refrain. Board Attorney Donald DeLeo, the Hudson County surrogate, did not return phone calls at press time. Inclan said that Councilman David Delle Donna has already initiated a meeting with the library officials to go over participation numbers. “I think it all could be worked out,” he said. “I don’t think the final dollar figure is too high, but the jump is too high. We already have fiscal problems and we’re trying to create a budget for July that is more responsible. It’s not going to happen with allowing higher library costs.” The issue will be voted on by the Guttenberg township council during the monthly meeting on the last Thursday in April.
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