St. Charles City-County Library

St. Charles City-County Library District
Board of Trustees
Minutes
May 23, 2011

The St. Charles City-County Library District Board of Trustees met at 7:00 pmon Monday, May 23, 2011, at the Administrative Offices, 77 Boone Hills Dr., St. Peters, Missouri.

Board Members present:

• Mr. Greg Dohrman
• Ms Myra Crook
• Mr. John Thoelke
• Ms. Debbie Haupt
• Dr. Jerry Cook
• Ms. Lisa Pelikan
• Mr. Gary Heggs

Board Members absent:

• Ms. Kathleen Todd
• Ms. Mary Reese

Library Staff present:

• Mr. Jim Brown, Director
• Ms. Betty Murr, Deputy Director
• Mr. Richard Schultz, Coordinator of Finance and Support Services
• Ms. Maggie Preiss, Children’s Services and Marketing
• Ms. Denise Mandle, Human Resources Coordinator
• Ms. Karen Golab, Purchasing and Building Project Manager
• Ms. Audrey Bangert, Information Technology Project Manager

President Greg Dohrman called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.with the Pledge of Allegiance.   Seven members responded to roll call.  Mr. Dohrman opened the floor for public comments.  No requests for time were received.

Old Business

11-40 FY12 Budget Work-Session

With this being the first meeting of its kind, Mr. Dohrman provided some initial direction.  He indicated that the group should ask questions as we progress through the different areas of the Budget, its summaries, and its highlights.

Gary Heggs, Board Member, asked what is the goal of this meeting.  Why was this work-session scheduled this year and not in past years?  Jim Brown, Director, reviewed the budget process from past years.  In the past, following initial revenue projections which were usually presented to the Board members in February, sections of the budget would be presented to the Board members each month with materials occurring first in March, followed by personnel in April. Technology and equipment portions of the budget would be presented in May and operations would be presented in June with Final approval of the budget scheduled for the June meeting as well.  It was Mr. Brown’s understanding that the Trustees were interested in viewing the budget as a whole prior to approving it at the June meeting.  This meeting serves as that formal review. 

Revenues

In regard to Revenues, Mr. Schultz indicated that there has been no change to Revenue projections since presented last month.  Some key points include:

• Budgeted Tax Revenue for FY12 is $15,631,485.24.
• Total Revenue for FY12 is $16,940,904.24.
• The State of Missouriis allowing a 1.7% increase in the cost of living.
• Funding for MOREnet’s REAL project was maintained through the state appropriations process for FY12.
• Current revenue Projections continue to appear to be reasonably accurate estimates based on existing information and should closely reflect actuals in August.
• Mr. Brown reminded the Board and staff that the tax rate will be set in September of this year, once final revenues are out.

A couple of questions regarding “Other Income”:

• Mr. Thoelke inquired about the “Donations” line-item and whether or not it included the $150,000 donation from the Library Foundation?  Mr. Schultz confirmed that the $191,350 in the “Donations” line does include that $150,000.
• Ms. Pelikan wanted clarification on what is included in “Donations”.  Mr. Schultz clarified that, based on the past “Donations” includes outright donations, room rental, Friends of the Library, and Library Foundation.

Materials Budget

The recommended FY12 Materials Budget is $3,360,209.  Based on feedback from the May Board meeting, Betty Murr, Deputy Director, added $167,000 to the Materials Budget for FY12.  The additional money was added to the following areas:

• $14,000 to ebooks for Adult and YA.
• $34,000 to Juvenile books.
• $5,000 to Periodicals.
• $24,000 to Reference and Electronic Resources.
• $15,000 to Audio Media.
• $55,000 to Video Media; $20,000 in Video games.
• $10,000 to Binding and Supplies

The money allocated came from the Personnel Budget, Operations Budget, and Unbudgeted Revenues.

Ms. Pelikan asked Ms. Murr, as a percentage, where did most of the money go in the Materials Budget?  Ms. Murr indicated that it would be difficult to say from a percentage basis, but the majority went into video media and ebooks.

With the theoretical formula of 20% of the overall budget in materials, Mr. Thoelke wondered whether or not this addition to the Materials Budget would bring the $3,360,209 to 20% of the overall budget?  Mr. Schultz concurred, indicating that the amount is a bit over 20% but not quite 21%. 

Mr. Heggs expressed concern over the $50,000 that was removed from the Personnel Budget.  Mr. Brown and Denise Mandle, Human Resources Coordinator, indicated that the amount was the result of a review and adjustment to several administrative assumptions taking a slightly less conservative approach than had been originally adopted. No positions were eliminated to reduce the personnel budget.  Some of the $50,000 came from Liability accounts, Worker’s Compensation (modifier went down), and Health Insurance rates were adjusted.

Equipment Budget

There have not been any changes to the Equipment Budget since May.

T & T Budget

There have not been any changes to the T & T Budget since May.  The recommended FY12 T & T Budget amount is $443,249.

Mr. Thoelke inquired about whether or not the FY11 T & T Budget included the additional 50 computers for Spencer Road?  Mr. Schultz indicated that that amount is included in the FY12 T & T Budget.

Dr. Cook reminded staff that he requested information on SmartBoards and installing them in the new Spencer Road Branch as well as the existing branches of the Library District.  Was that initiative included in the FY12 T & T Budget? Audrey Bangert, Information Technology Project Manager who is representing the IT Department, clarified that the T & T Budget does not include any expenses for the Spencer Road Branch.  All of the expenses for that project are included in a separate budget.  The FY12 Budget does not include an amount for SmartBoards for any of the other branches either.  Mr. Brown mentioned that Frank Noto, IT Coordinator, will present a report next month (June 9) on the SmartBoards and their applicability to libraries and the Library District.

Personnel Budget

The recommended FY12 Personnel Budget is $10,152,878.  This amount includes the recommended 2% increase for all employees.

The only changes that have been made to this budget are the cuts made in order to increase the Materials Budget.

• The vacation liability was decreased.
• The anticipated additional amount for new hire or replacement hire insurance was decreased.  This budgeted item was a precautionary line-item and therefore could afford to be less conservative.
• The worker’s compensation percentage was decreased from 2% to 1.7%.

Operations Budget

The recommended FY12 Operations Budget is $2,786,413.

Again in order to achieve the recommended increase in the Materials Budget, approximately $30,000 ($29,333) was removed from the Operations Budget, more specifically the “Building and Grounds” line-item.  The amount came from fine-tuning items such as snow removal days; some projects were eliminated and put on a “case by case” scenario for FY12.

Mr. Schultz expressed concern over the electrical costs for the new Spencer Road Branch.  He is unsure whether or not the amount budgeted is too conservative.

Mr. Schultz indicated that with additional adjustments and allowing for some continued variability with revenue projections, he felt that the District might still underspend the budget by as much as $500,000.  Mr. Thoelke indicated that he was concerned about the amount that the District continues to underspend.  Mr. Thoelke expressed his concern that following the completion of the Spencer Roadbuilding project, there did not appear to be any new building plans for the near future. Mr. Thoelke characterized his concern that with out any discernable new building projects or other reasons for maintaining a significant reserve, the District may need to consider an overall budget reduction which would effectively reduce the burden for taxpayers.  Mr. Brown assured Mr. Thoelke as well as the other Board members that there are projects in the works that will utilize reserve funds.  Some of the projects include RFID, branch remodels, and improvements.  Mr. Brown also noted that the District’s strategic planning process will likely identify new projects and programs which will require additional fiscal resources.  Mr. Brown expressed that perhaps we need to better articulate the expectations of the Board in regard to Reserves, and how the Reserves should be utilized in future years.  Mr. Dohrman, Board President, indicated the concern is not that we have Reserves, but more importantly, that the District have a well-layed plan for utilization of monies.  Mr. Schultz expressed that he would be comfortable with nothing less than a minimum of 9 months of operating costs in Reserves.  Ms. Crook agreed with Mr. Thoelke concern that we need to be responsible to the taxpayers. 

Mr. Brown asked the Board members for feedback on tonight’s meeting; was it what they were anticipating?

Ms. Haupt felt like the work-session was extremely helpful and did not feel rushed or like it was “crammed”.   Ms. Pelikan agreed.  Mr. Thoelke appreciated that staff brought changes back to the Board for approval prior to approving the entire budget in June.  Mr. Dohrman agreed, but felt like it is a process that could be evaluated annually.  This step of the process may not be necessary every year, but would be available if needed.

MOTION:  Ms. Pelikan moved to adjourn the open session.  Ms. Crook seconded.  Motion passed seven affirmative, zero negative, zero abstentions, and two absent.

The meeting adjourned at 8:18 pm.

Respectfully submitted

April C. Wootten

Recording Secretary

Approved:

Secretary Board of Trustees                             Date