Library reacts to loss of tax dollars with new policy

Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2009 12:00 am

Peter Adelsen Staff Writer padelsen@kokomoperspective.com | 0 comments

The Kokomo-Howard County Public Library changed its policy on fees and cut hours on Aug. 3. Many in the public have not been happy with the route the library chose. However, the library says it is making cuts of its own.

The revenue shortfalls come as the library is beginning a multi-million dollar capital improvement project, including the main library renovation project and the outreach building project at the South Branch Library.

So far, the library has spent $295,081 on the building projects on architectural fees and printing costs. Included in the overall costs is the amount spent on the main building of $203,000 and $54,000 for the outreach building, library director Charles Joray said. The library is using the more than $4 million it has amassed in its Library Improvement Reserve Fund to pay for the building project.

Instead of taking out a loan or digging into its "rainy day fund," the library board chose to cut services and increase fees. These changes include:

• Branches open one hour later (10 a.m.) and close one hour earlier (8 p.m.) Monday though Thursday

• 50 cent fee per item on all audio-visual materials, not including books on tape

• 50 cent fee for over due mail notices (to cover postage, still free if notified by phone or e-mail)

• Reduced materials budget by $106,631 (about one-third)

• Cut the hours of the genealogy department by 20

• Branches closed on the day after Thanksgiving, Columbus Day, Veterans' Day and New Year's Eve (these days would be non-paid for employees)

In addition to these changes, Joray said the tax levy may increase 3.8 percent, the maximum levy increase recommended by the State Board of Accounts, but he does not anticipate that it would happen. The increase is a result of this year's budget increase, but Joray said that the increase was not that much.

Administrative cuts

The library has been practicing an inverse layoff policy, and every staff member is taking a 1.5 percent cut for the remainder of 2009. The library has also ended overtime pay for employees who work on Sundays.

The library has cut five employees (four part-time and one full-time) and will not replace them through attrition. This saves $41,000, Joray said. The library also laid-off its three security officers who were off-duty police officers.

Everyone's pay at the library, including Joray's, will be frozen at the 2009 level for 2010. Joray's current annual salary is $98,262. In 2008, Joray's salary was $96,037. This was an increase of $2,225 from the previous year. His 1.5 percent pay cut will add up to be $737 for the remainder of the year.

He said his salary is considered against the seven libraries that are most similar to Kokomo. In the listing, Joray's salary is in the middle of the list with three paid more and three paid less. According to 2008 Indiana Public Library Statistics, Joray's salary ranked 11th on the list overall. Also, according to those statistics, the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library ranks 14th in terms of population served.

The library also made cuts within its budget by trimming another $57,000 that would have been used for cleaning materials and office supplies, Luttrell said.

"It does not mean that the library will be any less clean," she said.

During the renovation of the main library, Luttrell said, they will save more money because a certain number of staff will not be needed. Once the project is finished, they can come back, she said.

Reasons for decisions

In choosing that only audio-visual materials would have additional charges, the library board went on the fact that AV items are, in general, more for entertainment purposes, Joray said.

"The entertainment portion can have a rental fee because AV items in general are not used for scholarly and educational pursuit," he said.

In just the first week of charging for audio-visual materials, he said, the branches have made about $1,120 from the fee. At this pace, the branches may earn about $22,000 for the year.

Joray said these fees may only be temporary. A regional library that has also chosen to charge for these materials is the Muncie Public Library.

In opening the library later and closing earlier, Luttrell said the library looked at statistics of when the fewest people were checking out items in choosing what two hours of the day the library would cut.

Other options

One option the library could have taken was pursuing a loan because of its budget shortfall in lost revenue from Delphi Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC. not paying their property taxes. Many other government entities, such as Kokomo-Center Consolidated School Corp., have pursued that route. The library chose not to take a loan. Chrysler alone owes the library $491,963.57 in taxes.

"We weren't sure on if we had enough income to repay any kind of loan," Luttrell said.

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