BETHLEHEM — Voters have approved the Bethlehem Public Library’s $5.2 million budget and chose incumbent Laura DiBetta and newcomer Jill Adams as trustees among a field of four. 

The budget comes with a 2.61-percent tax increase, which is primarily to cover contractual salary increases and higher health-insurance premiums. 

The budget also includes funding for a new boiler, one of the “urgent structural needs” the board of trustees has promised to focus on this upcoming fiscal year, as it considers its options following the defeat of a proposed $37 million capital project in November. 

Notably, the trustees that residents elected when they passed the budget were both supporters of the capital project, though both acknowledged to The Enterprise earlier this month that the library would have to make do with more piecemeal improvements.

DiBetta, who is the director of outdoor recreation at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and joined the board a year-and-a-half ago to fill vacancy, said she supports the current approach of “[moving] forward with addressing critical maintenance needs, such as the boiler replacement and asbestos removal, using reserve funds while continuing the discussion of long-term improvements and how we can improve spaces for the public but at a much more reasonable cost.”

The budget for the upcoming year is using $38,000 of fund balance, leaving $3.9 million left to draw from.

Meanwhile, Adams, an independent science journalist, said “it is very clear to everyone in the community that the proposal was too expensive and that the board … must work smarter to find cost-efficient and creative solutions to address the various challenges.” 

The other candidates were Michelle Sanders, a massage therapist who could not be reached by The Enterprise prior to the election, and Anne Moore, a retired educator who had opposed the capital project and accused the library of “progressively try[ing] to waste more money” over the 35 years she’s been a resident of the town. 

The victors will be part of a seven-member board and serve terms of five years.