Town of Lodi continues library support. (Lodi Enterprise eNews, 9/7/2011)
Excerpt: Town of Lodi officials found out they are getting more than their money's worth for their Lodi Public Library funding contribution.
Annually the town contributes $6,000 to the Lodi Public Library, but according to 2010 reports town of Lodi residents make up 32.4 percent of total circulation-the second highest usage group when compared with the city at 45.9 percent.
At the Aug. 30 town of Lodi board meeting, library co-directors Trish Priewe and Kristine Millard said the library's annual budget is around $250,000.
The library, as a city department, receives about 85 percent of its funding from the city of Lodi. Other funding comes from townships through taxpayers; money that is allotted through the Columbia County Library Board, which reimburses at least 70 percent of the library's usage by county residents.*
The remaining money must be made up through donations, grants, fundraising and additional support.
In 2010, the Lodi library had its highest circulation ever with 102,137. Priewe said if you divide that number by its annual budget of $250,000, it cost the library almost $2.50 for each item circulated.
With budgets tight, town officials wanted to know were its annual contribution was going.
Priewe said the town's $6,000 contribution started many years ago when the town signed a franchise agreement with Charter Communications. The town board at that time promised a library contribution on an annual basis.
"That money from the township has always been earmarked for technology," Priewe said. "It is used to keep up with computer equipment, hardware and
get up-to-date software."
Here's breakdown of revenue as reported in the Prelimiinary 2010 Public Library Service Data published by the Wisconsin Division for Libraries, Technology and Community Learning's Public Library Development Team.
*2010 Revenue
Lodi Women's Club Public Library
I assume the $6,000 contribution from the Town of Lodi would be reported in the"All other income" column. And as a "unlibraried" unit of government, the Town of Lodi also contributes to the county library tax, which is part of the "Columbia County appropriation".
Thanks for the clarification about the county library tax (and helping to popularize the term, "unlibraried"!)
ReplyDeleteThe Lodi Enterprise is running a correction in the 9/15 edition. Here's the info from the email I sent them:
ReplyDelete"A few clarifications on library budget and support information:
• The library actually received 43% of its 2010 budget from the City of Lodi. Another 33% came from Columbia County as reimbursement for users outside the city limits, and the rest was made up from other sources. (This number never came up at the Town meeting.)
• The $6,000 donation is in addition to the support from Columbia County, and helps bridge the gap between the reimbursal rate and our actual cost per circulation.
• While the City is not mandated to support the library at any percentage of our actual cost per circulation (as counties are required), in response to a question from the Town supervisors I said that the City’s 2010 budget level equated to an approximately 85% level."