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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Library Board of Trustees - 02/02/2022 - Advocacy South Burlington Finance Committee Meeting, February 2, 2022 Members present: Donna Swartwout, Ted Lenski, Jennifer Murray Regrets: Patrick LeDuc Ted Lenski called the meeting to order at 5:13 pm. The topic of Capital expenditures for the new library was added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. No members of the public joined the meeting. The minutes from the September 2021 meeting were not reviewed and will be reviewed during the next Finance committee meeting. Discussion: Library Budget/Staffing Plan First agenda item was 2023 Budget Review – Jennifer confirmed that the budget as submitted and presented to City council has been recommended to the voters and will be voted upon on Town Meeting Day – March 1st. Donna and Ted communicated to Jennifer that we would be available, if necessary, on March 1 to support Jennifer at the Town Meeting. Jennifer will communicate with either of us if on presence is needed. The additional staffing, including the IT support is part of the FY23 budget submission. Discussion: FY 22 YTD through November spending Review Ted led a discussion on the current YTD spending for FY22. Currently, the overall Library spend is in line with the budget through November. YTD spend is 41.42% of the total budget with a target of 41.67%. The key items focused on during the discussion included: • Salaries – Salaries are above budget due to the lack of a COL increase in the FY 22 budget. This will need to be adjusted by limits on spending in other categories (self-checkout maintenance fees – see below) • Self-Checkout Machines Effectiveness – Self check machines are now working (as of Jan 2022). There will need to be a push to increase their use. May be an opportunity for the Advocacy Committee to highlight. Maintenance agreement will be adjusted to begin in January 2022, not July 2021 as initially budgeted. • Room Rental Revenue – Now that the booking systems in up and running, this should get additional revenue available. • Copies – Revenue – Revenue is down for copies. This led to a discussion about access to the library via public transportation. Jennifer mentioned that when the library was at the mall, it had additional foot traffic as a result of a public transportation bus route at the mall. There is not one near the new library on Market Street. Nearest one is at Barnes and Noble. Donna will bring this concern up to the full LBOT for discussion. This foot traffic seemed to use the copier more. Additional monitoring of this service will be done by Jennifer. • Fines and Fees – Fines are below budget due to the budget being submitted after the elimination of library fines. Jennifer will start the use of a “fine jar” on the counter that people can donate if they feel they should volunteer to pay fine. Any funds generated will go to the fines line item in FY 22 and the gift account in FY23 since the budget for FY23 is zero. Discussion: FY 23 staffing and Hours of Service Ted led a discussion on what the hours of service plan is for the balance of FY22 and FY23, assuming the budget is passed as submitted. Jennifer communicated that the FY22 hours of service will remain the same and she will be making a recommendation to the LBOT for hours of service for FY23 after the budget is approved. Donna will have a discussion during the next LBOT meeting about the role the LBOT will have in the hours of service evaluation. The finance committee felt that the hours of service should be determined by the director and will make that recommendation to the full LBOT in February. Another topic discussed was having the library provide an operational update periodically to City Council in order to promote the great things the library is doing. Jennifer will discuss this with the City Manager and will ask for the support of the LBOT and subcommittees if necessary. The finance committee was supportive of the idea. Discussion: Capital Review – New Library Jennifer reviewed the spending update on the capital plan for the new library. Of the $8.4 MM spent in FY21 on the library, 8.1% (or $680,075) came from library donations (Blanchette and Library Foundation). That is an impressive amount and something the Library Foundation and the LBOT should be proud of. This is something that will be communicated at the LBOT meeting in February. Donna motioned for the meeting to adjourn at 5:48 pm. Ted seconded the motion, and the motion passed. Respectfully submitted, Ted Lenski