The Fox River Valley Public Library District board has terminated its contract to purchase 11 acres of land for a new library in West Dundee.

The decision comes less than two months after voters rejected a November referendum to increase the library's tax rate by 21 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

Had it been approved, the new income — estimated at about $3.2 million annually — would have funded improvements to the existing East Dundee library and paid for the construction and maintenance of a new library on a site near the Randall Oaks Recreation Center campus.

“Because the vote of our residents rejected the library's operating referendum, the board feels that it cannot proceed with the purchase,” board President Marge Skold said in a news release issued Wednesday. “We will continue to consider options for meeting the growing needs of our district.”

The library district conducted numerous studies and surveys that indicated a need for library facilities on both sides of the river, the release said. In the last decade, circulation of library materials had increased by 219 percent and program attendance by 166 percent, library officials said.

A library consultant, architect and construction manager were hired to oversee the design and develop a plan, which was later scaled back at the recommendation of a citizens' task force. The total cost for the East Dundee improvements and the West Dundee library building were estimated at $24 million to $25 million.

Even with the scaled-back plans, the referendum called for the library district's tax rate to climb from 20.9 cents per $100 assessed valuation to 41.9 cents. The owner of a home valued at $200,000 would have paid an additional $140 a year in taxes.

Voters rejected the measure by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

The $50,000 in earnest money paid to put the land under contract will be returned to the district, the release said.

The Fox Valley district serves residents in Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow and Gilberts and parts of Algonquin, Elgin and Barrington Hills.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.