County board approves budget with increased library funding

By Valorie Brecht At the county board meeting last Thursday, board members approved a budget that will include an increase in public library funding, after a strong showing of community support for the change.

Libraries in Clark County will be reimbursed for 85 percent of circulation costs instead of 75 percent, as they had been previously. By going to 85 percent, libraries in the county will receive an additional $77,413 in 2024. When distributed among the 10 libraries, that will amount to about $7,741 per library, or $645 per month per library.

“The library is a safe haven for a lot of people — whether it’s kids who need a place to go after school, a homeless person coming inside to warm up for a while, or a person studying with a mentor to get their GED. It’s such a productive and creative place. I really encourage the 85-percent funding,” said Peggy Buchda, a regular patron of the Neillsville Public Library.

Buchda’s words were a common refrain among those who spoke at the meeting, with six others echoing her request for additional funding. One of those, Clark County Library Committee member Jim Mildbrand, indicated he had received emails from three different Greenwood library patrons stating they would like to see additional funding. About 20 community members came to show their support, with custodians having to put out extra chairs to accommodate the extra people.

Clark County librarians also attended multiple meetings over the course of the last six months to advocate for additional funding as the county went through its budget process.

The librarians argued that part of the problem is the state funding formula for libraries is based solely on the number of circulations, and that does not factor in the entirety of services offered. Wisconsin libraries are primarily funded by their municipality, but counties also play a key role in assuring that residents of communities that don’t have a library still have access to library services. State statute requires that counties provide a baseline level of reimbursement for services already provided for registered library users with a home address that does not have an established library.

Act 150, signed into law in 1998, established a minimum standard for county library funding. Per Wis. Stat. 43.12(1), the libraries’ cost to serve township users is found by taking the number of circulations (items checked out) to township residents multiplied by the cost per circulation. The cost per circulation 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. Counties are required to reimburse at 70 percent of costs for township users. Clark County had been reimbursing at 75 percent but will now reimburse at 85 percent.

Although there was strong support for the increase in funding, the change did not come without pushback.

Please see Library funding, page 19 Library funding,

from p. 1 When the budget came up for a vote, county board member Ken Gerhardt made a motion, seconded by Ryan Ashbeck to decrease the in-county library funding from 85 percent to 75 percent, which would return $50,342 to the levy.

Shortly after Gerhardt made his motion, Bryce Luchterhand, chair of the Clark County Library Committee, spoke. He said he had been involved in trying to increase library funding for a number of years.

“In looking at WVLS (Wisconsin Valley Library Service) data, and adding and subtracting some things, Mr. Gerhardt came up with the erroneous conclusion that the Clark County libraries have a $1,100,000 surplus at their disposal. They do not. Mr. Gerhardt has not inquired about the validity of his conclusion to a single librarian, that I know of. I can tell you unequivocally that the assertion that the libraries have a $1,113,000 surplus is ludicrous. They budget their money to pay expenses during periods of time when no money is coming in. They do not have surpluses above and beyond their operating expenses, period.

“Now, Mr. Gerhardt made a second mistake in his Oct. 26 letter to you (the county board members). He assumes the library budgets are the same as county department budgets and should be treated in the same way. They are not the same. Department budgets are created using the past year as a template. They are affected by the state-imposed cap, based on growth in the county. This year, a 1-percent increase was encouraged to Clark. The library budget each year is determined by a formula dictated in state statutes, without regard to the previous year. It is based on select data from two years prior, it is not subject to the cap imposed on department heads and the county is only required to pay 70 percent of whatever the formula determines the budget should be,” said Luchterhand.

He also said the county library budget was reviewed by a local committee, the county library committee, executive committee, finance committee and WVLS, so it’s not as if the decision was made in a vacuum.

County board member Fred Schindler then spoke. He said that while Luchterhand was saying that the libraries did not have a surplus, he had talked to the Abbotsford library and was told they had a $42,000 surplus.

“And they have no income coming in in December, January or February. So what is that? Is that a surplus?” said Luchterhand.

“Well, you’ve gotta be transparent. You’ve gotta live with the facts,” said Schindler.

“Well, you’ve gotta live with the facts. I agree with that. Is $42,000 going to carry their budget forward for three, maybe four months? If that’s a surplus, well then I guess they’ve got a surplus,” said Luchterhand.

“Yes, they do,” said Schindler. Schindler said he couldn’t justify an increase in library funding when the number of visits were down. In 2018, there were 161,720 visits; while in 2022, there were 69,607 visits, a 57-percent decrease.

“I think the libraries do a fine job and we need them, but when the departments are told we should only try a 1-percent increase, when wages comes up and it goes from 3 percent and the resolution cuts to 2 percent, and now all of a sudden we jump the libraries 10 percent when the visits are cut in half and there are evidences of surpluses, that’s why I have to honor Ken’s resolution,” said Schindler.

Gerhardt then spoke. He said that by keeping the libraries at 75-percent funding, it would still result in the libraries getting approximately $27,000 more in 2024 than they did in 2023. In contrast, by going to 85-percent funding of the cost of circulation, the libraries would be getting an additional $77,413, which is a 22-percent increase from what the libraries received in 2023. He said it wasn’t fair when the county department heads were being asked to tighten their belts.

Gerhardt said he looked at the WVLS 2022 report, which stated that the total operational income for the 10 libraries in Clark County was $1,423,421 and the total operational expenditures were $1,227,034. By subtracting those two numbers, he came up with a difference of $196,387.

“I don’t know where it went. This book doesn’t tell me where it went. But when you come to us and ask for another $77,000, that troubles me a great deal,” said Gerhardt.

He also referenced statistics in the report indicating a decline in the number of items circulated. In 2018, there were 283,585 items circulated; while in 2022, there were 212,025 items circulated, a 25-percent decrease. Also, in 2020 there were 15,127 regular users while in 2022 there were 13,615, a 10-percent decrease. In 2021, there were 0.41 registered users per capita, while in 2022 there were 0.38 registered users by capita.

“Everybody wants more, but it’s just not there,” said Gerhardt.

After Gerhardt spoke, Loyal Public Library Director Teresa Hall provided a response on behalf of the Clark County libraries.

“(Mr. Gerhardt’s) letter indicated that other county departments were limited to a 1-percent budget increase. We would like to remind you that our reimbursement to libraries is exempt from the county levy limits. We have routinely operated at 25 percent less than the costs necessary to refine our operations and improve our services. His letter stated that the libraries had a surplus of over $1 million in the last five years. The difference between operating revenue and expenditures should not be viewed as a cumulative total, since some of those same monies are carried over from year to year.

“The 2022 balance of $196,000, spread over 10 libraries, is hardly significant. We must be prepared for our funding to be inconsistent, even as we try to keep up with the changing needs of our communities.

“Year-end funds that are carried over are used to pay expenses for the first few months of the next year. County reimbursement money arrives late February, early March. Money from our municipalities arrives between March and July. Without carryover, we would not be able to pay December bills that aren’t received until January, or bills incurred in the first few months of the new year. Further, these funds are reallocated to line items in the new year, or to capital projects that are not recorded as expenditures in the annual report.”

She also said that responsible budgeting dictates that libraries maintain an emergency or contingency fund, and that money in that fund is not used for operational expenses, but for specific projects, such as building repairs.

As far as concerns about the decreased number of visits, Hall said that numbers had rebounded some from last year to this year, and that the number didn’t take into account wifi hits or the number of people using audiobooks through the library app.

“As you continue to reduce less than 100 percent, we are pressed to reduce our staff, programs, hours and our services. This encourages our community members to go elsewhere, especially to places like Marshfield. The unintended consequence is that the money that could have gone to Clark County libraries is leaving the county,” said Hall.

County board member Fritz Garbisch asked Hall if the librarians were going to go to the township budget meetings and ask for more money also. Hall said that the librarians already regularly attend the budget meetings for the townships in their jurisdiction.

A couple of county board members pointed out that libraries offer many services not reflected in the statistics, whether it’s tax preparation, programs for the aging population, hygiene kits, craft and game programs and many other examples.

“The libraries are not mandated like the many departments in our county. So they’re able to flex and monkey with their schedules, so they can reduce their budgets and reduce their payrolls and things like that. And I believe that that has happened in our library system. I think they are doing what they can to manage, flex and adjust with the limited funds they are receiving,” said county board member Ashley Thielman. “And, they are doing community services — they’re taking books to residents of long-term care facilities, for example. I think the changing nature of our world also factors into the equation.”

Fellow supervisor Kathy Brodhagen agreed. “The fact that this calculation is based on circulation, the number of books checked out — like what year was that decided? The 70s or something? What’s going on at libraries is so different than when this calculation was created. There’s a lot going on at libraries today that doesn’t involve checking out books… There’s a lot of programs.”

After a bit more discussion, Gerhardt’s amendment to keep the library funding at a 75-percent reimbursement went up for a vote. The amendment failed, with eight voting yes,19 voting no, and two absent. The eight in favor of Gerhardt’s amendment were Schindler, Tom Wilcox, Ashbeck, Duane Boon, Gerhardt, Fritz Garbisch, William Neville and Randy Sebesta.

The board then voted on the original budget as proposed, including an 85-percent reimbursement to libraries. That passed 26-1, with Garbisch offering the sole nay vote.