Library funding to stay the same

By Valorie Brecht The TRG

The Clark County Board of Supervisors has passed a county budget that includes libraries being funded at the same amount as they were last year.

Last week’s vote came after months of debate on library funding, stemming from the county finance committee not wanting to pay as much of the costs associated with Marathon County circulations, because they are non-county library users.

However, by changing the funding formula to reimburse Clark County circulations at a higher rate than Marathon County circulations, the three libraries close to the border of the two counties would have seen a significant funding cut, because they all have a high number of Marathon County circulations.

In an effort to please all 10 county libraries, county library committee member Jeff Kolzow recommended reverting to the 2024 funding allotments. This will only be a temporary fix, however, as costs continue to rise and the county is already not paying enough to fully cover library operational expenses. Ultimately, Clark County hopes to come to an agreement with Marathon County, convincing them to chip in for their circulations.

Public libraries receive funding from the city or village they serve, the surrounding townships, and the county. The State of Wisconsin requires counties to reimburse libraries at a minimum of 70% of the cost per circulation for township users, which is calculated by taking the total operating expenditures for a library and dividing by the total number of physical items circulated in a calendar year.

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Last year, the county reimbursed at 85% for Clark County library users and 70% for Marathon County users. In August, the county’s executive committee met and made the recommendation to reimburse Clark County circulations at 78% and Marathon County at 70% for 2025. That recommendation advanced to the finance committee, but the finance committee changed it to Clark at 90% and Marathon at 25%, which would result in an overall cost savings of $25,539 for the county, but would hurt Abbotsford, Colby and Dorchester, the libraries with a lot of Marathon County patrons. The 90/25 proposal is what made it into the county budget book. However, on Oct. 16, the finance committee met again and settled on an 85% reimbursement for Clark and 45% reimbursement for Marathon.

At last Thursday’s county board meeting, finance committee chairperson Chuck Rueth proposed an amendment to the budget to “enhance libraries’programs and services” by increasing the library budget by $13,167 and changing the reimbursement rates to 85% Clark/45% Marathon. He proposed increasing the levy by $13,167, which would change the mill rate from 6.803145 to 6.807029, or result in an additional $0.39 in tax on a $100,000 home. Rueth’s amendment passed, with 19 yeses, eight noes, one absent and one abstain.

Then, county library committee member Jeff Kolzow proposed another amendment, which was to adjust all the individual library amounts to match what they had received in 2024. The overall amount the libraries received in 2024 was $553,987, while the overall amount they expected to receive under the 85/45 proposal is $554,012, a $26 difference. However, while the overall amount is practically the same, under the 85/45 proposal, certain libraries would lose anywhere from $800 to more than $11,000 compared to what they received last year, while other libraries would receive anywhere from $800 to $8,700 more than they got last year. Therefore, the purpose of Kolzow’s amendment was to even the playing field so all libraries would get the same amount as last year.

“I put out an email to all the libraries and all the library committees earlier this week asking for comments on this particular amendment. There are no negative comments, several positive comments, and what you need to understand is the final number is exactly what the appropriation was for 2024. Nobody gains, nobody loses with this deal,” said Bryce Luchterhand, who is chair of the Clark County Library Committee.

Kolzow’s amendment passed with 16 yeses, 12 noes and one absent.

Although they took care of library funding for the next budget year, county board members still definitely had the sense that something needed to be done to address the overall issue.

“Clark County has got a serious library funding problem,” said Ken Gerhardt, finance committee member. “Over this budget process, as earlier was stated by Bryce (Luchterhand), the executive and finance committee have reviewed and discussed multiple options trying to resolve this problem. This is not a new problem, as Bryce said, and cannot be solved by simple means. As with any serious problem, one needs to identify the cause of the problem. The cause of our library funding problem is a lack of any financial contribution from Marathon County for their citizens’ use of Clark County libraries.

“The 2025 dollar amount of the required 70 percent state statute funding for Marathon County residents to use Clark County libraries is $141,421.57. Because of their locations, the Abbotsford, Colby and Dorchester libraries require 96 percent of this total. There needs to be a significant change in this funding, and the Clark County levy cannot continue to pay our Clark County libraries for Marathon County residents’ usage,” he finished.

Clark and Marathon counties follow an agreement dating back to 2000 that states that neither one will charge the other for their circulations. However, Marathon has benefitted more from this arrangement because it has three times the number of circulations to Clark than Clark does to Marathon.

“How are we going to get Marathon County to change the policy or step up or whatever? I mean that was the purpose of what you did was to create a little pain, so to speak, so we get attention from Marathon County? That was the purpose?” Gerhardt asked Kolzow.

“So, the plan is, starting in January, the library committee is going to meet with Marathon County to work out a deal, take that old agreement that was set up 24 years ago and abolish it, and try to get them to start paying us for all the people on the edge. We’re starting then so by the time budget rolls around next year, we’ve got something figured out,” said Kolzow.

He also said he could report to the county board on progress made along the way, so no one was taken by surprise.

“I’d like to also add, this is also going to take in the long run, I think, a legislative action,” said Luchterhand. “The law right now is on Marathon County’s side and says they do not have to pay Clark County for anything. And the only way that can be changed is through legislative action, I think. Now, I had a fellow tell me today that possibly the Department of Public Instruction may have something to do with library funding. We’re going to investigate that also. But I’m not real optimistic about Marathon County volunteering to pay $141,000 when they don’t have to. On the other hand, I’m not real optimistic about our libraries surviving in the shape that they’re in right now, if we decide we don’t want to fund them that $141,000. So we’re between a rock and a hard place right now, but we’re going to do our best to resolve it.”

County board member and former library committee member Tom Bobrofsky said he didn’t envision Marathon County being eager to pay either.

“If we do the same thing as Marshfield, where they pay, we pay, they would have to pay three times as much as us and they’re not going to want to do that,” he said.

County board member Ashley Thielman pointed out that the closest Marathon County libraries to the people living in the rural area east of Abby, Colby and Dorchester would be Athens or Edgar, so it’s not as if people would choose to travel all the way to those libraries when there was one right across the county line.

“I have a very hard time saying we need to redistribute funds (so Marathon County circulations don’t receive as much). I don’t know what we can do to help. It’s very challenging because we can’t deny Marathon County patrons,” she said. “But it’s going to be a hefty lift to get them to open their pocketbooks.”

The Clark County Library Committee will revisit the issue in January. This committee consists of one county board member, Kolzow, and six citizen members: Luchterhand, Vlasta Blaha, Roberta Pabich, Jim Mildbrand, Saville Inman (just appointed Nov. 7) and Carol Oryszczyn. County librarians provide input and recommendations, but are not voting members. Each member serves a three-year term.