Trustees received a quarterly fiscal update and discussed steps to limit the budgetary hit from a new federal overtime threshold.

Speaker 4 told the board that the museum has seen "marginal increases year after year" since the pandemic and that staff received a 3% raise in July with a probable additional 3% next July. He described current-year supplementary support, including roughly $289,000 in added appropriation to cover increases beyond the base budget and admission receipts "upwards of $30,000" to date for the fiscal year.

On federal labor rules, Speaker 4 said the museum is monitoring changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act and warned the board that "The new threshold is now $58,006.56." He described a mitigation plan that would move four key employees above the threshold and budget overtime or supplemental pay for other staff rather than incur unexpected overtime liabilities. "We're gonna try to move 4 key employees up above the threshold and then another 17 employees who are below threshold...applying for, $18,000, up to for overtime compensation," Speaker 4 said, framing the proposal as an effort to preserve festival and weekend staffing without exceeding the finite museum budget.

Board members noted uncertainty in the policy timeline and the need to budget conservatively; Speaker 2 and others said they are being advised by a lobbyist to plan for the change and to watch legislative developments through December. No formal motions or votes were taken at the meeting on changes to pay structure or staffing levels.

Next steps: staff will continue to refine salary-line projections, monitor state and federal rulemaking into December, and present options for board consideration once clearer guidance is available.