A Faraday Township official is defending its decision to not supply Bancroft with over $35,000 in funding this year.
“I would like to start out by saying there has never been any agreement between Faraday Township and the library board setting out that Faraday would provide annual funding to the library board,” said Bernice Crocker, the township’s CAO/Clerk-Treasurer in a written statement.
Faraday has provided donations to the Library Board, but donations are never guaranteed, she added.
Bancroft Coun. Val Miles took to social media recently to express her disappointment with Faraday’s decision, which disappointed Crocker.
“While the library board is certainly entitled to request funding, (our) council is equally responsible for determining how taxpayer dollars are allocated. In my view, the wording of the letter implies that Faraday’s decision not to provide the requested operational funding may directly affect library services for Faraday residents, despite the township’s long history of financial support.”
The letter was signed by the library board’s chair Jane Graham and vice-chair Nancy Clements, and suggested user fees for Faraday residents may be required to pay for services in the future.
“Faraday’s contribution has helped to support access to these services for 48 years. In the absence of that contribution, the board will need to assess whether the same level of free access can continue to be provided to residents and visitors to the Faraday community. This may affect services such as public computers, internet access, programming, and other services available, currently without charge.”
Since 2005, Faraday has contributed nearly $400,000 in municipal funding to the library, a number that does not include just under $18,000 in Public Library Operating Grant (PLOG) during that time.
“I am also concerned that the library board chose to publicly announce on its Facebook page that Faraday Township would no longer be providing operational funding before attempting to discuss the matter directly with the township,” said Crocker.
“Had someone from the board contacted me, I would have explained that council’s decision was made during the 2026 budget deliberations, where council’s objective was to keep the municipal tax levy increase as close as possible to four per cent,” she added.
Faraday’s budget was approved with a 4.14 per cent increase.
Had the requested library contribution of $35,880.00 been included in its 2026 budget, the tax hike would have risen to approximately 5.4 per cent.
Crocker said the library board requested an operational contribution of $4,680 from Limerick Township but asked for $35,880 from Faraday for 2026.
“The question to ask the library board is why it is requesting over $31,000 more in funding from Faraday Township versus the request made to Limerick Township.”
MyBancroftNow has reached out to the board for comment.
