Home > About the Library > Board of Trustees Minutes > September 2007 Budget Work Session
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
John Anderson, Rita Lichtenberg, and Antonia Matthew
President Steve Moberly called the meeting to order at 5:45pm in Program Room 2B.
Bonnie Estell reported that this is the same budget with no changes presented.
Randy Paul asked Bonnie to present the Living Wage proposal. Bonnie stated she basically has a problem. She came up with a solution that could meet everyone's needs, but includes an increment, and there is to be no increment intended. Pay Grade 6 is compressed if pay is moved up to $10 per hour. She included increment so that it did not encroach on Pay Grades 7 and 8. Circulation has an issue with not getting increments because people with seniority earn as much as new hires. Bonnie also made the increment effective on January 1 rather than on the anniversary date so that the only difference is for people who are at the maximum of the pay grade.
Bonnie added the same 3% with 2% COLA and 1% increment on January 1. Levels 6, 7, and 8 have higher increments so that the pay grades aren't compressed. On January 1, Pay Grade 6 would make $10 instead of $9.28, a 7.2% increase. Pay Grade 9 and above get 3% unless at maximum of Pay Grade.
Bonnie stated that we will need at least a 2.3% increase in 2009 in order to get new hires to $10 per hour.
Randy said that he and Bonnie would work out the bugs so that it is a 3% across the board, and they will bring it September 12, 2007 meeting.
Randy said that there was a desire to do the Living Wage, but there were concerns about it. His goal is to address these concerns. $10,000 will address the compression of the salaries. The Living Wage will still cost $22,000.
Discussed followed whether a compensation study is needed. Randy said that the cost to fix the wage compression was only $10,000 and we were willing to spend $50,000 for a compensation study without blinking an eye. Steve reminded the Board the library has to stay within the published budget. Sara stated that we are $10,000 over the advertised amount to do this, but have more than $200,000 Rainy Day funds appropriated to be used as "just in case" money. Not a good idea to fund salaries from Rainy Day money, but we won't really need to do that. Penny expressed concern about the effect on the base salary of doing this. Sara said will be less competitive if we don't adjust ranges up with the COLA over time. If we do this, we will keep our base at the same level for the third year in a row. Penny then asked how to address people with concerns about not having an increment. Steve repeated that the "tail can't wag the dog." The Board has already approved COLA, not an increment. Steve asked that all proposals and resolutions be prepared in advance of the meeting so that they can be acted upon at the meeting, and the Board can sign them that night.
Penny said that she wanted to see new figures and understand them. Sara asked if Friday was enough time, and the group felt that it was. Bonnie said that the budget wouldn't be changing, but that she would send out another one. It is just the budget that needs to be approved on September 12. The Salary Schedule doesn't have to be approved at that meeting. Randy asked about domestic partnership language for the insurance. He offered to send it to the Board and to MCPL staff. He said that he felt that most married couples would have difficulty providing the level of documentation required by domestic partners.
Randy said the language was similar to IU and the Center of Behavioral Health. Penny asked that it be sent in a timely way before the vote. Randy said that it would.
Mickey Needham presented the Odle McGuire Architectural Plans for the Ellettsville Branch to the Trustees. Mickey stated that Odle McGuire no longer have an office in Bloomington. Mickey said that she and Sara had discussed it. Sara said that she hasn't seen anything in the minutes authorizing Odle McGuire to do any work, and that the Board has not selected Odle McGuire yet.
Linda stated that the Board had not but that the firm has done so much already. Professional Services don't have to be bid. Construction does. The contract with Odle McGuire has been sent. Linda said that there was a synergy that was desirable because Odle McGuire had done so much work already on the Ellettsville facility. The cost has increased from the original estimate, but we have the money set aside in the budget. Steve said that there is approximately $400,000 set aside from the Building Corporation. If it not used soon, the state can take it to pay off the bond. It would not then be available fo construction, per Tom Bunger. Sara will call Tom Bunger about this tomorrow. Sara was not able to find the elevations today. The staff in Ellettsville have ideas that might work better. The dotted line (on the drawing) is the property line. The new addition will hang out into the parking lot. There are not a lot of options. We can't move it very much because that is the space available. Staff are concerned about losing the windows in the meeting room, but it is possible to turn it so that it is going the other direction (longways rather than shortways). Staff felt two doors were needed unless there are egress issues. Maintenance is concerned about tight maintenance space. Fred suggested that one of the things that needs to be done is for the architect to sit down with the Ellettsville staff to tweak the plan to address the issues identified for staff. Janice said that it was important to allow staff to have input into the plans because staff do know the building best. Sara said that it shows that Ellettsville staff were involved in the remodeling done previously at the Ellettsville Branch because the building works really well. Randy asked how this fit into the LCPF that just got approved by the County Council. Linda said that when we saw how much LCPF money there was, we knew that we could do the design. $170,000 of LCPF is allocated to the Ellettsville project. The County Council gave the library some money for the Ellettsville renovation, and Linda said we need to spend that money on the Ellettsville Branch. Fred pointed out that putting the money together won't cover the actual costs.
Discussion followed with how we could pay for Ellettsville. Randy encouraged that we not use the Building Corporation funds for Ellettsville. Randy said we need to use the LCPF money for Ellettsville. He said that this money would be enough to do Ellettsville completely. County Council funds and Building Corporation funds money would finish the entire project. He suggested using the remainder to do the essential repairs and maintenance to the Main Library. Steve Moberly said that LCPF monies were from a tax levy. We won't have them distributed to the Library until July 1 and Dec 31, 2008, and we won't have money to spend until it is disbursed. It is not like the money is there on January 1. Whatever the construction plans, we need to have money to pay for it. We will have to go to the County Council to request second-year funds before we have received LCPF for first year. Penny suggested taking a loan from the Building Corporation funds to start the Ellettsville construction. Sara stated that if there are capital needs, we should think about what are the priorities and do those. Steve reminded the Board that some things from second floor renovation are still needed (such as carpet and exterior renovations).
Steve Backs told the Board that staff were asked to prioritize the needed things. Steve assured them that staff can get started with that right away. For example, there are things we can do that will help to make AV work better where it is, and we can accomplish needed repairs.
Steve Moberly said he was in complete agreement with having Ellettsville staff input on the plans. Mickey informed Steve said that they would be happy to give the feedback.
Penny said that the library department managers and Sara should identify needs as soon as possible, and start using Building Corporation funds to do it. As far as HVAC, the building is 10 years old, so we need to look at what needs to be done. Penny asked department managers to identify the most pressing needs.
Linda suggested that we hire an architect to do preliminary design, using Building Corporation funds. At this point we have a good estimate and have agreed on the program. We may be close enough when money is available to go ahead and bid it. Penny asked if the Board was asking for proposals from other architects. Steve said that we have questions that Sara will ask Tom Bunger about, and we will keep on this. We are not going to make a decision tonight because we do not have enough information.
There was discussion on engaging a recruiter to assist in the search for an Associate Director at Monroe County Public Library. Sara presented the Associate Director job description that was used for the initial search in 2007. Linda feels we had a failed search and that it is crucial that Sara have an Associate Director to work with her. Linda feels this is a chance to hire someone who might be able to step into a directorship, and she doesn't feel that we can go long without an Associate Director.
Sara said that the job description is very general and it may need to be changed. She will bring the job description back to the department managers for input. Linda feels that this is a position a recruiter could help us with. Fred said that he has concerns about using consultants. He said that we have a library director who has a wide range of knowledge and we might have a good search now.
Linda suggested letting some time pass. Randy said that he echoed Fred's concern about using consultants. It is premature at this point to move to a consultant. Randy said that he would like to see Sara groom current staff to succeed into director positions.
Steve asked how a recruiter is paid. They are paid a fee. Paid $25,000 for last search, but they doubled the pool of candidates that we would have had. Two of the four final candidates have been told that the search is suspended but not ended. Steve stated that the Board will move forward after Sara has had a chance to move forward.
There was discussion about appointing a fiscal task force to prepare MCPL and provide solutions regarding loss of COIT monies in 2012.
Randy said that whenever 2012 is talked about, it is always connected with cutting staff costs. He said that it would be worth the library's time to ask people to volunteer from the community to work on revenue-generating/plural funding. Steve said that it was an excellent idea. He suggested that people think about how many people we would need for the committee, what kind of representation would be needed on the committee, how it might be constructed, if it would be advisory and, therefore, exempt from the Open Door law, and any other factors that would be part of the development of the committee. Steve suggested that people suggest names of people who might be able and willing to do this on a volunteer basis. Another issue is that the Legislature in 2009 may do something to restructure property taxes and local government finance. There are lots of unknowns and uncertainties. Randy asked if the Board would consider a proposal from him in November. Linda asked if Randy has expertise in development. He said no and that he wouldn't want to be on the committee. Sara echoed that there are lots of people with this expertise in the community and agreed with Linda that it would be important to draw on people with this kind of expertise.
Penny Austin and Randy Paul presented a Solutions Plus Committee Report, and provided information on the meetings. The meetings are scheduled on the second Wednesday of each month at 12:30pm and the second Thursday of each month at 8:30am. The committee is currently working on Section 3.10 of the Personnel Manual. The last two meetings have been focused on reclassification. The draft Section 3.10 is on the MCPL Wiki for input. The committee will meet after the next employee forums.
Linda suggested that Sara look at the process and decide if the process needs to be reconfigured. The group has decided that they did not want an outside facilitator after all, as was reported previously to the Trustees. The group is working well together, and they are accomplishing things. The forum communicates to the committee and vice versa.
There was none.
Steve announced there will be a retirement party to honor Cathy Rogers on Saturday, September 8 from 1:00 to 3:00pm in Program Room 2B. Steve encouraged everyone to attend to thank Cathy for her years of service and her leadership.
Steve announced there will be a Board meeting on September 12, and a work session immediately following. The work session will be on collective bargaining. Both meetings are open to the public. The work session will be in 2B and not televised.
The meeting adjourned at 6:50pm.
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September 21, 2007
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