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Signal Mountain council reviews library budget; staff to correct insurance and wage coding errors
Summary
Town staff presented the library budget during a May 27 special meeting, confirming a $220,000 operational transfer and a $20,000 book budget while flagging missing insurance entries and wage-tab formula errors for follow up.
The Signal Mountain Town Council discussed the library’s proposed budget during a special called meeting on May 27, 2025. Town Manager Matt Johnson presented the department’s expenses and said the council will keep a $220,000 operational transfer for the library in the draft 2025–26 budget.
The discussion focused on a handful of line-item and spreadsheet issues that staff will correct before the budget is finalized. Johnson said staff are forecasting roughly the same total cost as last year and that the library’s book budget is forecast at $20,000. He also told the council the library is up to date on fund transfers: “We are still budgeting $220,000,” Johnson said.
Councilors flagged that a property and liability insurance amount appears to have been omitted from the library tab. The existing budget line showed $4,124.25 as the prior budgeted amount and a year-to-date charge of $5.79; councilors instructed staff to locate the missing insurance entries and add the appropriate charge back into the library budget. Johnson said staff will research the discrepancy and return with corrected figures.
Members also raised multiple spreadsheet and formula issues tied to the wages tab. Councilors and staff said some wages are not linking correctly across tabs, producing inconsistent year-to-date and budget columns. Candy, a finance staff member, and John Harr, the town’s finance director, had been working on the formulas, and Johnson said staff will reconcile the wages tab so totals align across worksheets.
Councilors asked for the library board to review the polished budget before final adoption so the board can provide input on expenditures and the allocation of general‑fund transfers. Staff said they will correct the insurance and wage coding, confirm any miscoded items (for example postage vs. passport fee offsets), and circulate updated figures to council and the library board ahead of the next meeting.
Next steps: staff will reconcile the library tab (insurance and wages), confirm year‑to‑date actuals, and return corrected figures to the council for the next budget review.
