Tisbury voters at last month’s special town meeting overwhelmingly approved a $4.8 million borrowing request to renovate and expand the Vineyard Haven library.

That voice vote, however, was not the final word on the library project. Massachusetts law also requires a town election, with a simple majority, to exempt Tisbury from limits on borrowing imposed by state Proposition 2 1/2.

The election takes place Tuesday, Jan. 7 from noon to 8 p.m. in the town’s emergency services building on Spring street.

Arch Smith, who chairs the library board of trustees, told the Gazette that borrowing $4.8 million would add about 5 cents per $1,000 in property taxes for year-round Tisbury residents, who pay a lower amount than seasonal property owners.

Owners who do not receive the residential tax exemption would see an annual increase of about $90 on a median-priced property of $1.2 million and about $135 on an average-priced property of $1.8 million, Mr. Smith said. 

Those totals represent the “worst-case scenario,” in which the library project needs to borrow the entire $4.8 million, he said.

“We believe that we do not need this amount, but until the final bids come in by late February, we do not know,” Mr. Smith told the Gazette by email this week.  

“I am guessing that the borrowing would be around $3.5 million,” he added.

Built in 1967 and last renovated in 1999, the town’s library needs a new roof, shingles, windows, insulation, heating and air conditioning systems, bathrooms, paint, ceilings and carpeting, library officials have said previously. 

Stormwater runoff regularly floods the lower floor of the Main street building, and sewer gas can back up in the toilets. 

The proposed renovation would also include an addition, which is being funded largely by donations and money the library already had from earlier appropriations.

A sample ballot for Tuesday’s election is posted on the town website. The library funding question is the only one on the ballot. 

If the measure fails to pass at Tuesday’s election, last month’s town meeting vote in its favor will have no effect.