Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Library board concurs with FY 2025-26 budget; approves Sunday staffing and part-time auditorium support
Summary
The Carlsbad Library Board of Trustees voted May 28 to concur with the library's fiscal year 2025-26 budget submission, approving funds for Sunday staffing, part-time auditorium support and training.
The Carlsbad Library Board of Trustees voted May 28 to concur with the library's fiscal year 2025-26 budget submission, approving funding for Sunday staffing and additional part-time support for auditorium programming.
The board's concurrence confirms preliminary decisions from the finance department and city council and sends a memo of support to the city council ahead of final budget adoption on June 17. The fiscal year begins July 1.
The library had requested about $461,000 in new resources for 2025-26: roughly $266,000 for personnel and just under $195,000 for maintenance and operations (M&O). City leadership declined the two requested full-time positions but approved other pieces of the request, according to Senior Management Analyst Fiona Everett.
Under the package the board concurred with, the library will receive $90,000 in ongoing overtime to fund Sunday hours at the Cole and Dove libraries and approximately $111,000 in staffing budget equivalent to 2.07 FTE to support programming and rentals at the Shulman Auditorium. Two internship positions were approved (digital initiatives and genealogy/Carlsbad history); the library had sought three interns. All M&O requests, including a near-doubling of the training budget and increases for utilities, were approved.
Trustees discussed trade-offs in the compromise. Trustees noted disappointment that the full-time genealogy and Carlsbad history position was not funded and said they will continue to press for it. Library staff said they will document unmet work demands attributable to unfilled positions to support future requests.
Timeline and next steps: the board's concurrence will be communicated to City Council before the council's scheduled budget adoption on June 17. The new fiscal year and budget take effect July 1.
Votes at a glance
- Motion: Approve the letter of concurrence for the FY 2025-26 library budget submission (draft Exhibit 1 in the agenda packet). Moved: Trustee McBride; Second: not specified on the record. Outcome: approved (yes); Trustee Scheffler absent.
Context: This vote records the Library Board's formal support of the budget package as it moves to final citywide adoption. The board's concurrence is advisory to City Council and does not itself appropriate funds.
