Duane Hicks
The Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre is making some cuts to help town council balance its 2017 budget.
After taking a close look at library operations in recent weeks, the library board and town administration found ways to reduce this year’s municipal contribution to the library by $12,693.
This means the municipal contribution in the 2017 budget will be $480,749.
“We believe that the library can continue to offer the community the same high level of service despite this reduction,” library CEO Caroline Goulding said in her report received by council at its budget meeting Monday afternoon.
“Any further cuts would negatively impact the quality of library services our community has come to enjoy,” she warned.
The library board achieved part of the reduction by making adjustments to its 2017 operating forecast in order to bring projections more closely in line with past actuals.
This caused a number of line items in the budget to either increase or decrease.
After these adjustments, the board made further changes, including budgeting to buy fewer books, CDs, digital collections, and “Maker Space” materials this year.
The most significant change came to the library staffing budget, noted Goulding.
“Through altering operations, we feel we can reduce budgeted staff time by 600 hours without impacting the number of hours that the library is open,” she said.
Goulding added the reductions “were not easy cuts” but “they were the only cuts which could be made that would not impact the level of service we offer our community.”
As stated to council on March 6, the library is willing to take its share of the cuts facing all town departments.
“We feel that through our work with town administration, we have reached our proposed goal of achieving a level of cost-cutting which assists the town but does not decimate library services,” Goulding said.
Council received the report with no questions.
“I appreciate all this hard work that was done,” said Coun. Wendy Brunetta.
“I think it’s great we can compromise on this.”
Town treasurer Laurie Lindberg said the budget exercise provided her with better understanding of some of the library’s programs
In other budget news, council approved a five percent industrial vacancy rebate reduction–lowering the reduction from 35 percent to 30 percent for the 2017 taxation year and beyond.
This will save the town $28,703 in vacancy rebates.
Notices have been sent out to all small and large industrial property owners (25 owners of about 50 properties in total).
Traditionally, only one large industrial property owner–Resolute Forest Products–has applied for the reduction.
This resolution will be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for regulation amendments.
On the other hand, council decided not to reduce its commercial vacant and excess land rates from 30 percent to 25 percent, which previously were discussed at the March 6 budget meeting.
After further consideration, it was decided the effect of doing so wouldn’t be worth it, considering that 302 properties in the commercial class would have to be served notice of the change, according to Lindberg.
On the capital side of the budget, $30,000 has been added for an additional sidewalk on McIrvine Road–from King’s Highway to the Fort Frances High School entrance.
However, this project is contingent on the Rainy River District School Board contributing half of the cost ($15,000) and whether or not abutting property owners are consulted and in support of the sidewalk.
Town council currently is looking at a balanced budget for 2017, although it may be several weeks until it can be finalized.
“We are still waiting for the education tax rates and we are expecting them to go down, so that means we will have less revenue, especially in our payment in lieu [PIL] payments we get for properties owned by the province–federal government, as well,” noted Lindberg.
She added there’s no clear indication of when the education tax rates will be available; it could be one week or one month.
Until that time, council and administration will wait to ratify the budget.
“We’re pretty much as far as we can go today on our operating budget,” Lindberg said.
The next budget meeting is scheduled for April 3, although that date is dependent on whether the education tax rates have been received or not.
