Board president says library ‘starving’ from inadequate funding
November 1, 2012 at 4:00 am in Hudson Star-Observer
“To me, it is inexplicable how communities in one of the wealthiest counties in Wisconsin cannot do a better job of funding their library,” says Barbara Peterson, president of the Hudson Area Joint Library Board.
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Barb, you need to get out in the real world where more people are unemployed than 4 years ago, people’s incomes have been flat, raises have been non-existent and most people are paying more for their benefits should they be fortunate enough to have them.
It is simply a matter of priorities. Sometimes it seems like the library folks place the library wants at the top of the ladder of important government services. Reality for most people is that given a choice, it would be far below police, fire, ems, roads, parks and plowing.
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Seems like the important asset is the materials and staffing then, not the building. Perhaps they should pursue looking for a more simple building and focus on keeping it open. They seemed to have aimed pretty high, not done any fundraising and are in over their heads. Not unlike the homeowner who buys more home than they can afford, except in this case, the city bought the building and the library is realizing the costs of keeping it running.
I agree that an informed electorate is very important. More people need to understand that government can’t be all things to all people.
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Actually, the new building isn’t causing the financial problems at all. The city is a very kind landlord and only charges enough rent to pay for the utilities and cleaning. Rent at the new building is about the same as rent would have been with an expansion in the old facility. One expansion or the other was needed, since square footage at the old space was a cruel joke for a community the size of Hudson.
Also, there has been substantial fundraising. The Friends of the Library agreed to provide $15,000 per year for five years, in order to help ease the transition into the new building. The Library Board also brought in $25,000 with their “Bridge the Gap” fundraiser this year. So, $40,000 in donations for 2012 covered about 5% of the library budget this year – which is higher than most any other library in the state of Wisconsin.
Look back at the article and compare the Hudson numbers for library support to those in other communities. You’ll see that the problem is on the income side of the balance sheet, not the expense side.
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Maybe they could buy back the old courthouse and put the library there. Sell the new library building and try to at least break even.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 43 establishes standards for public library systems, and requires a municipality to fund its library, if any, to at least 70% of the county funding level for libraries within the county in order for the municipality’s property owners to be exempted from the county library tax collection; Wisconsin state law also allows a county to require that all municipalities within the county contribute toward funding their libraries, if any, at higher than 70% of the county funding level in order for the municipalities to be exempted from the county library tax. (See, Wis. Stat. Section 43.64)
In 2009, St. Croix County adopted a requirement that municipalities within the County fund their libraries at a greater than 70% rate in order to be exempted from the County library tax levy: the minimum required library funding rate went to 85% in 2010, and then to 100% in 2011. In February 2012, it was discovered that the four municipalities that are parties to the joint library agreement for the Hudson Area Library (City of Hudson, Village of North Hudson, Town of Hudson, and Town of St. Joseph) all had made underpayments of the minimum library funding rate; in order to be exempt from the County library tax for 2012, the four municipalities combined should have funded the Hudson Area Library (HAL) at $1,044,788.00, but none of the municipalities met the required funding rate and the total of library funding appropriations from all four municipalities fell short by $415,763.00. (See, “Library funding pursuant to Wisconsin Statute Chapter 43″, 7/26/2012, St. Croix County Assistant Corporation Counsel, H. Wolske)
On August 7, 2012, St. Croix County adjusted the minimum required library funding rate that the four municipalities in HAL must meet in order for the municipalities to be exempt from the County library tax levy: for 2013 the minimum funding rate was reset at 70%, and for 2014 the minimum funding rate was reset at 80%.
To reach even the minimum 70% library operational funding rate set by state law, the four municipalities supporting HAL would need to have increased their 2012 total appropriation for HAL by $225,190 for 2013, as allocated below:
City of Hudson, $116,544;
Village of North Hudson, $12,058;
Town of Hudson, $59,66; and
Town of St. Joseph, $36,927.
(See, “Library funding pursuant to Wisconsin Statute Chapter 43″, 7/26/2012, St. Croix County Assistant Corporation Counsel, H. Wolske)
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In April 2008, 70% of voters in the four municipalities (Hudson, North Hudson, and Towns of Hudson and St. Joseph) funding the Hudson Area Library (HAL) approved planning to buy the building at 700 1st Street that now houses the library (see, “Library Referendum”, at http://hudsonlibrary.homestead.com); but in November 2008, a majority of voters in each of the four municipalities failed to approve funding the purchase.
In 2009/2010, the City of Hudson negotiated purchasing the building now housing HAL and the City of Hudson police for $2.5 million, which was at about half of the estimated fair market value in 2008, and the CIty then leased a portion of the building to HAL.
Within the first year of HAL’s latest relocation, public use of the library increased significantly. From February to May 2011, over 56,000 people entered HAL, and circulation increased 32% from a year prior (see, “Hudson Area Joint Library moves to the Lakefront Park area”, 8/26/2011, Hudson Star Observer, at
http://www.hudsonstarobserver.com/event/article/id/44269/publisher_ID/9/).
A 2011 public opinion survey showed over 85% of those surveyed felt that HAL is an essential; HAL is important to the quality of life in the City of Hudson; and taxpayer support for HAL should be higher than it is (see, “Library celebrates one year at First Street”, 7/11/2011, HSO at http://www.hudsonstarobserver.com/event/article/id/43712/publisher_ID/9/).
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Under the 2011-13 Wisconsin biennial budget and the budget repair bill–for both of which Senator Sheila Harsdorf and Representative Dean Knudson voted–the options available to the four municipalities for increasing revenue to be used for any purpose were severely restricted. For example, the City of Hudson could not increase its total tax levy for 2012 by any amount greater than $69,000.00 (see, “Library funding falls short”, 3/21/2012, Hudson Star Observer, at http://www.hudsonstarobserver.com/event/article/id/46708/publisher_ID/9/).
In fact, the 2011-13 Wisconsin biennial budget and the budget repair bill cut state aids to local municipalities; cut state funding for Wisconsin’s regional public library systems by 10%, or $13.5 million in 2012 alone; cut another $4.6 million in state aid to school libraries in 2012; repealed “maintenance of effort” (MOE) requirements for libraries; and imposed levy limits on municipalities that prevent local units of government from raising money for programs and services local communities need and want, such as the Hudson Area Library. (See, “Walker budget cuts library funding”, 9/28/2011, The McFarland Thistle, at http://www.mcfarlandthistleonline.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=3972; “Despite Their Importance, Libraries Facing Funding Challenges”, 4/8/2012, Wauwatosa Patch, at http://wauwatosa.patch.com/articles/despite-their-importance-libraries-facing-funding-challenges; and “Budget cuts threaten regional library system”, 4/23/2012, WPR, at http://news.wpr.org/post/budget-cuts-threaten-regional-library-system)
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