Increases in some areas temper PCPL 2023 budget

With it being noted that things across the board will be the same, increases in a few areas will temper the Putnam County Public Library’s proposed budget for 2023, even though it overall will be less than 2022’s.

Library Director Matt McClelland drew attention to these areas at a public hearing on the budget during the Library Board’s regular meeting Wednesday evening.

McClelland first touched on salaries for the library’s full-time and part-time assistants, which will mean a $38,295 increase from 2022. Providing that this was needed especially for part-time, as the library seeks to keep up with other sectors in the volatile economy as it is currently.

“I think we still have a ways to go on some aspects of this,” McClelland said. “This shows an unusual amount of increase over the last three years.”

This corresponds with an increase for group insurance, which would go up to $120,000 from $109,558 for 2022. McClelland said this is accounting for a 10-percent increase and not knowing what it really will amount to, and as such is not finalized.

With e-book services going from $11,000 to $14,000, McClelland touched on $3,500 that will go toward an added database line item. The goal, he related, is to get away from using gift funds for such operating expenses. He said this was a “pretty accurate” reflection of database costs for next year. An effect from Covid is that online services for PCPL have become more heavily utilized.

Meanwhile, the electricity and natural gas budgets will go up by $800 and $10,000, respectively, at $4,000 and $50,000. McClelland put this to being ahead of inflation.

One major decrease will be for furniture and equipment at $38,951 for 2023, compared to $53,992 for 2022. It being a “catch-all category,” McClelland said money was shifted out of it for other expenditures.

McClelland finally brought up a new line item being for programming specifically. Though appearing modest at $2,000, this means the library itself showing support for events like those by the Friends of the Library.

Ultimately, the 2023 budget total would come to $1,229,876, down from $1,168,931 which was determined for 2022. Meanwhile, the rainy day fund will still have $50,000.

The board is set to adopt the budget at its regular meeting next month.

In other business:

• The board adopted a resolution for the library to be a member of a public internet access consortium through the Indiana State Library from July 2023 through June 2024. The membership stipulates that PCPL can receive e-rate discounts by filtering computers. If they choose not to, libraries can still be eligible for broadband connectivity grant funding.

• Providing the financial report, Asst. Director Jane Hazelton relayed that the budget for materials and supplies, as well as postage, are going into the negative. She noted that the former is due to recently purchasing new locking DVD cases for $2,825. With costs in general, she added that electricity and gas are following the same trend.

This acknowledged, Hazelton reported that the overall budget remaining for the year stands at 41.5 percent, with the other funds besides being consistent.

Though still with the vacancy left by Tiffany Shields, the entire board of Board President Kayla Flegal, Board Vice President Alan Zerkel, Board Secretary Shannon Green and members Kristin McClellan, Barbara Boese and Jamie Nees joined McClelland and Hazelton for the meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Library Board is set for Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m. in the Kiwanis Room at the library.