Library budget talks continue

POST FALLS — The Community Library Network's general fund expenditures for fiscal year 2022 were just shy of $5 million.

The average daily expense for the network is $13,610, based on 2022 numbers.

Property tax revenue provides 91% of the network's funding, according to Director Alexa Eccles, who shared auditor information Tuesday during another special budget meeting of the board. Those funds are disbursed in January and July each year, requiring the network to keep about $2.4 million on hand for daily operations and unexpected expenses.

“We had talked primarily in the past about maintaining a four-month balance,” Eccles said. "We would need additional funds for emergencies and unexpected or unplanned items.”

The proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year, without taking an increase in taxpayer money, is nearly $6.1 million.

The budget proposal includes increasing employee pay and making several cuts elsewhere, including to technology, library equipment, training and conference travel and programming for adults and children.

“The budget really should reflect our strategic plan, and the very first goal on our strategic plan is delivering unique and responsive programs driven by community needs and interests,” former chair and longtime Trustee Katie Blank said, adding that the strategic plan reflects the extensive surveys the network conducted.

“When the public has said to us — and I think over and over and over again we’ve heard from people recently — when the public says, ‘We want programs,’ they aren’t a huge percent of our budget and we are cutting them dramatically," Blank said.

Trustees continue to work toward settling on a budget for the year, which they must do before their Aug. 10 budget hearing.

The draft budgets were developed without including any discounts the library would receive through the federal E-rate program, which provides discounts of up to 90 percent to help eligible schools and libraries afford telecommunications and internet access. Funds supporting the program are universal service contributions from telecommunications carriers, and the program operates under the oversight of the Federal Communications Commission.

Trustee Tim Plass suggested the library district use any savings it may see through the E-rate program, estimated to be roughly $95,000, be put back into the library network’s materials collections for which the draft budget includes cutting roughly $168,000.

“I’m not necessarily opposed to doing partially what Tim is suggesting, and maybe to reduce the impact we’ve made on the programs, maybe give them back,” Vice Chair Tom Hanley said. “I’m not trying to boost them back up to where they were, but we’re taking a pretty good ax to the programs. I’m not necessarily opposed to slightly putting some more money back in programs and putting the rest in collections.”

Eccles said the board has been receiving a lot of correspondence about the budget. Since July 13, she said the board has received 21 emails through its website from community members referencing the library budget, 17 of which were positive or in favor of a small tax increase to support the library, three were not in favor and one was neutral.

The Community Library Network will hold a regular board meeting, including public comment, from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday at the Post Falls Library, 821 N. Spokane St. The agenda includes the annual report from the Harrison Library, financial and circulation updates and a report from Eccles.