Library director warns of $3 million gap as city budget review continues

The Library Director told the board the city is currently about $16,000,000 over budget and the library is looking to close an estimated $3,000,000 shortfall without cutting hours or services. “As we know, we're $16,000,000 currently. Over budget, we have 13,000,000 in our reserves. So we're looking to close that gap of 3,000,000,” the director said.

The director said a budget workshop was held the previous Monday and another workshop is scheduled in about two weeks to present department ideas to city council, including using unfilled positions, pursuing additional grants and other savings before considering reductions to staffing or hours. “Those are priorities for us — keeping our service level where we're at,” the director said.

Board members and staff discussed contract timing for library systems: staff said this is the final year of the current contract for the integrated library system and that a new system will begin next year, with typical annual vendor increases of about 2 percent. A board member asked whether a listed warrant amount should be $27,000 and how that compared to last year; staff said routine increases are expected and the line item is the final year under the current contract.

The board did not record a formal vote on budget actions during the meeting; staff said they will bring proposals and possible savings to the next workshops for council review. The director emphasized the library’s priority of avoiding cuts to public services and hours while staff and departments develop options to close the gap.

The board is scheduled to continue budget discussions in follow-up workshops; no additional formal actions were recorded in the transcript.