Library board proposes tax decrease for coming year
NORWICH – After cutting expenditures by more than $24,000, the Guernsey Memorial Library Board adopted a budget that will decrease the tax levy by 1.79 percent in the next fiscal year.
For 2008/2009, the Guernsey budget totaled $1,042,621. For 2009/2010, the budget has been decreased by $24,787, with 23 out of the 37 expenditure lines showing a decrease. Some expenditures are expected to decrease because of new systems in place. The cost for electricity and natural gas are expected to go down because of the new HVAC system in use at the library, and the telephone expenditure is expected to decrease because of a new agreement with Frontier.
Other expenditures were carefully looked at to determine where possible cuts could be made. Board President Craig Lawson explained that there were some expenditures that could not be cut, like staff salaries, social security, health insurance costs and the expense for buying books. “That’s the reason we’re here,” Lawson said.
Subscription costs will be significantly decreased in the coming year, due to new purchasing schedules in place for expensive reference materials. In addition, the board has decreased expenditures for equipment, building repair, contracted services and many other items.
The proposed budget for 2009/2010 is $1,017,834. The board decided to appropriate $47,100 from its fund balance of just over $500,000. Board Treasurer Wendy Wright expressed some concern about appropriating the money from the fund balance. “We drastically cut expenditures this year. That means next year, any increase in expenditures will mean an increase in the tax levy,” Wright said. She explained that unless the board keeps appropriating big chunks of the fund balance, future budgets could reflect a bigger jump in the tax levy.
“Everybody is looking for public entities to cut budgets this year,” Lawson said. “I think we need to stick with the cuts and deal with what comes next year or the year after.” Lawson explained that with a new director on board, changes may be made that would keep the budget under control.
The board passed a motion to adopt the budget and present it to the Norwich School Board at their April meeting. The adopted budget reduces the total property tax from $952,871 to $935,804, a decrease of $17,067.
During Thursday’s meeting, Lawson updated the board on the status of the library director position. So far, he said, five applications have been received for the position. The applications were being scored by civil service, and Lawson said would be discussed further in executive session. The board could not say how long the process of appointing a new director might take.
For 2008/2009, the Guernsey budget totaled $1,042,621. For 2009/2010, the budget has been decreased by $24,787, with 23 out of the 37 expenditure lines showing a decrease. Some expenditures are expected to decrease because of new systems in place. The cost for electricity and natural gas are expected to go down because of the new HVAC system in use at the library, and the telephone expenditure is expected to decrease because of a new agreement with Frontier.
Other expenditures were carefully looked at to determine where possible cuts could be made. Board President Craig Lawson explained that there were some expenditures that could not be cut, like staff salaries, social security, health insurance costs and the expense for buying books. “That’s the reason we’re here,” Lawson said.
Subscription costs will be significantly decreased in the coming year, due to new purchasing schedules in place for expensive reference materials. In addition, the board has decreased expenditures for equipment, building repair, contracted services and many other items.
The proposed budget for 2009/2010 is $1,017,834. The board decided to appropriate $47,100 from its fund balance of just over $500,000. Board Treasurer Wendy Wright expressed some concern about appropriating the money from the fund balance. “We drastically cut expenditures this year. That means next year, any increase in expenditures will mean an increase in the tax levy,” Wright said. She explained that unless the board keeps appropriating big chunks of the fund balance, future budgets could reflect a bigger jump in the tax levy.
“Everybody is looking for public entities to cut budgets this year,” Lawson said. “I think we need to stick with the cuts and deal with what comes next year or the year after.” Lawson explained that with a new director on board, changes may be made that would keep the budget under control.
The board passed a motion to adopt the budget and present it to the Norwich School Board at their April meeting. The adopted budget reduces the total property tax from $952,871 to $935,804, a decrease of $17,067.
During Thursday’s meeting, Lawson updated the board on the status of the library director position. So far, he said, five applications have been received for the position. The applications were being scored by civil service, and Lawson said would be discussed further in executive session. The board could not say how long the process of appointing a new director might take.
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