By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA — The town supervisor and director of the Massena Public Library each said they think the town should move to a district to fund the library.

“I don’t think the Town of Massena can continue to find a library. I think we need to move toward a library district so all the communities you say use it can pay for it,” Gray said during a budget work session prior to Wednesday’s town board meeting.

Gray and library director Elaine Dunne had a lengthy argument over the amount of funding the library is getting. Dunne said she is concerned that the funding under Gray’s proposed budget would leave them using a big chunk of their fund balance and leaving the reserve account dangerously low.

A document from the town shows the library’s proposed budget is $796,651, up from last year’s final figure of $770,639. It says taxes would fund $624,366 of that, down from $625,011. Fund balance usage would total $54,900, up from $28,000 last year.

“Right now we’re below the tax cap. If we fund the libary more, we have to take cuts somewhere else,” Councilman Samuel Carbone said.

Dunne and Gray disagreed over the director’s characterization that the library is underfunded.

“We’re being asked to do more, including the increases staff get, with less,” she said. “How many departments are being underfunded?”

“I don’t think you’re underfunded, I don’t think anybody’s underfunded,” Gray said.

“You’re giving me less revenue from taxes this year,” Dunne said.

“How much do we raise taxes or how much do we cut? Everybody,” Gray said.

Councilman Steve O’Shaughnessy at one point during the back-and-forth between Gray and Dunne said he is against getting rid of the library, but Gray said he wants it to stay.

“I would be against that. I think the library should stay with the town. Same with the cultural center, museum, the airport. When you start to talk about economic and cultural develpment, there’s the picture,” O’Shaughnessy said.

“I don’t want to get rid of aynthing. I’m just saying to get the level of independence apparently Ellaine craves the board craves,” Gray said.

O’Shaughnessy, a Democrat, is running against Gray, a Republican, for the supervisor’s office in November.