LIBRARIES: Bottom-line math

There seems to be some dispute about the increase in the salary line for the Community Library Network. What shouldn’t be in contention are the actual numbers from the official financial statements.

CLN is stating that Post Falls salaries were added in 2011 and that is inflating the salary line. So you do the math. The actual salary line for fiscal year end 2011 was $1,910,783. CLN budgeted the salary line for 2017 at $2,973,085. You do the math.

Secondly, CLN is stating that they had a huge increase in health care costs. That is something we can all understand as taxpayers, because ours also went up. That is even more reason as taxpayers we need taxing districts to be especially frugal. Unlike the vast majority of the taxpayers, people who work for CLN pay $0 for their health care premiums if they don’t smoke. I’m sure our school teachers wish they had that plan. So however you do the math, there is money to be saved at the Community Library Network. Let’s hope they act responsibly and for once in the last 23 years or so they don’t take the maximum 3 percent plus growth for budget year 2018. As taxpayers we deserve that.

GLEN K. SEELY

Coeur d’Alene