HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft Minutes - Library Board of Trustees - 05/06/2021 - Finance Committee
South Burlington Finance Committee Meeting, May 6, 2021
Members present: Penne Tomkins, Ted Lenski, Diane Bugbee, Jennifer Murray
Regrets: Patrick LeDuc
Ted Lenski called the meeting to order at 5:33 pm.
The topic of library fees was added to the agenda later in the meeting.
Jay Pasakow joined the meeting as a member of the public.
Penne made a motion to approve the Finance Committee minutes from December 12, 2020. Diane seconded the motion, and the minutes were approved.
Discussion: Library Budget/Staffing Plan
The library budget is $814,254.67 for Fiscal Year 2022. This represents a $196,055 increase, or 32%, over last year’s budget. This represents the largest increase in the library’s history. The bulk of the of increase, $536,000 is in salaries and represents an increase of 32%, or $111,000.
The library budget includes:
• $26,500 in library equipment operating not capital self-checkout machines.
• $11,000 for new computers. Computers will have annual fees/maintenance will need to be planned after year
one. These items may come out of the capital budget.
• New hires targeted for July 1: Digital Librarian 40 hours/week (may be hired earlier with Tom Hubbard’s approval;
Circulation specialist 28 hours/week; Young adult specialist 28 hours/week. “Shelver” 9 hours/wk.
• Two administrative upgrades for staff to become supervisors in January 2022.
• Wage increases for all employees July 1.
• Staff coverage for library hours: 10-7 M-Th, 10-5 F, 10-2 on Saturday. When meetings are scheduled 1-2 people
will need to stay until 8 pm.
In January will look at possible Circulation Assistant and Children’s/Adult Assistant to increase operating hours. There will
be two staff on each floor. There will be discussion with Jennifer, Tom Hubbard, and incoming City Manager Jesse Baker
about January needs. The 28-hour positions are not currently benefitted. This makes these positions less competitive
with other libraries. Over time, may consider how to phase in pro-rated benefits for these positions.
Discussion: Foundation funds accessibility and transfer
Ted and Jennifer met with Tom Hubbard about movement of funds raised by the South Burlington Library Foundation and
the library. It was recommended that the Library Foundation write checks directly for expenditures that Jennifer incurs
rather than a transfer to the library gift account which is held by the City. This to be developed process would happen with
oversight from the Finance Committee and auditing by an independent entity.
Jay Pasakow said that there are two buckets of funding from the Foundation - the annual fund and capital campaign. After
the capital campaign, the annual fundraising will continue. The committee discussed how Jennifer could best access
these funds in a streamlined manner and what would happen to the gift account in the future. While we direct donors to
the Foundation, people do not always understand this and write checks to the library and drop them off. These are not
typically large donations and happen infrequently but there must be a place where they can be deposited.
The Foundation and the Finance Committee will need to come up with a process for transfer of funds. Jennifer should be
informed of how much funding she can anticipate and a process that allows some flexibility. Items can be invoiced but this
could also increase the number of requests to the Foundation and checks that must be written. If Foundation funds are
deposited into the gift account, there is no guarantee that other city expenses won’t be paid from this account. Currently
there is about $26,000 in the gift account. The plan is to spend this down on a list of items Jennifer needs for the new
library, including for the opening day collection. Near future expenditures will be spent from gift account while a new
Foundation to library process is developed.
Ted made the motion that the Finance Committee recommend to the full Board of Trustees that the gift account be kept
open as is, while we encourage donors to direct donations to the Foundation and while the Foundation develops an
efficient process for Jennifer to access these funds directly. Penne seconded the motion, and the motion passed.
New Agenda item:
Jennifer brought up the topic of fees and the new library. Overdue fines for books were eliminated. This represented
about a $3,000 loss in revenue. What other opportunities exist to make up this loss of revenue? Jennifer shared several
possibilities with the Finance Committee.
• Charging a fine when mobile hotspots are not returned? The library can have them turned off to limit access but
incurs costs if the mobile company that provides the hotpots have to turn them on and off.
• There are currently charges for the copier. Scanner is free. Could charge for this and the function could be added to the copier.
• The non-resident card holder fee could be increased.
• Library staff provide proctoring services when people take tests in the library. Staff time varies. This is
something other libraries charge for. Our library could add this fee.
• We currently have room fees in our plan. We don’t charge fees for people who have food at their events. We
could add a fee for this.
• Should we charge for non-library hour use for meetings? This requires staff time.
• Security fees. Patrons may reserve space for meetings that could be considered controversial. The library may
need to hire security for the safety of staff and public. This could be added to reservation fees.
• Auditorium fees, technology assistance, non-profit vs. for-profit groups, groups that charge fees for their events
vs. those who don’t, and the need for staff time is another area that must be flushed out.
Implementation of fees is time sensitive, and decisions will need to be made ahead of the new library opening. The
Finance Committee agreed that it made sense to meet again before the June 10, 2021 Board of Trustees meeting so that
a recommendation can be made to the full Board. Ted will look for time in late May/early June and this topic will headline
the agenda.
Jay Pasakow attended as a member of the public and participated in the discussion items on the agenda. There were no
other comments.
Penne motioned for the meeting to adjourn at 6:59 pm. Diane seconded the motion, and the motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Diane Bugbee