Library gives money to township

[Cranbury Press]

Library gives money to township
Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:02 PM EST
By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer




CRANBURY — The Cranbury Public Library Board of Trustees passed a resolution Feb. 13 that will allow a transfer of $18,000 of the library’s dedicated funding to the municipality.

Earlier in the month, in an effort to ease the tax burden on residents, Mayor Pari Stave asked the board to look into such an action, allowed under recently passed state legislation.

”In the end, we are a municipal public library and want to do everything possible to work with the town,” said Kirstie Venanzi, board president, in a press release. “Overall, Cranbury Public Library is fiscally conservative; we spend funds prudently, reserve funds for emergencies and future projects and strive to use the 1 percent we receive of tax dollars in the best manner possible.”

According to a press release from the library, board members decided on the amount they would give back by looking at a worksheet issued by the state. Board members came to the $18,000 figure by assessing their total funds available, minus their restricted funds like library grants, donations and future capital expenses. The process also requires that the library set aside 25 percent of those funds for emergencies.

”Using that worksheet, this is the maximum amount that we can give,” said Library Director Marilynn Mullen.
Aside from allocating funds to the municipality, Mayor Stave also requested that the library look into helping some local organizations with their operating costs.

Ms. Mullen said the library already does offer certain aid to municipal organizations, such as inviting the Recreation Department’s participants to some of its summer programs or by hosting movie nights for the senior center.

But the library may be looking to play a larger part in these organizations, she said.

”We might help host movies in the park or hire speakers for the senior center,” Ms. Mullen said. “We have enough in our budget to partner with the town on other programs. We don’t want to take over these programs. We want to work with them.”

Township Administrator Christine Smeltzer said any help the library can give to the municipality is extremely appreciated during this tight budget season.

”I think the (Township) Committee is happy to get any money they are willing to give,” she said.

[Guest]

My understanding is that the library's budget is calculated based on a fixed percentage of the total assessed value of properties in town. The budget got a huge boost because of the re-valuation.

We all know by now that the current assessed values of most properties are too high. That means library's budget is inflated artificially. It's nice that the Library gives money back to town.

[Guest]

I'm looking for volunteers. Anyone interested in giving me $600k this year in return for $18k next year should call me immediately.

By my estimate, if the library put their $600k surplus in an interest bearing account, the account would have generated about $18k in interest. My guess is they are simply giving us back the interest on the money we were over-charged in the first place.

Clearly our librarians are reading too many "self help" books, because they are helping themselves to a whole lot of our money.

[Guest]

The state of NJ requires minimum funding 1% of tax assessment. To get the surplus returned you have to go before the state librarian. Since the state librarian is in charge of ensuring libraries are taken care of in the state of NJ it is highly unlikely they will approve a return. The librarian has a vested interest in keeping the money with the library.

Unlike many of our TC members, at least they are not spending the money needlessly.

[Guest]

I would like to have the TC put this issue on the agenda for an upcoming meeting. I, for one, do not understand the library financing situation, nor how they are able to accumulate a surplus that is sizable in relation to our annual budget.

[Guest]

The state mandates based on a law passed in 1933 that the library has to receive 1% of funding based on the property value. The TC has no say on this and must provide this funding.

The library then takes that money provided and uses it for their needs. If their needs are less than the budget they are given it becomes surplus.

The library does not want to get rid of the surplus and the TC in order to get it must apply to the state librarian. If the state librarian says no then the surplus remains with the library.

There is nothing the TC can do other than the above or ask for the library to find funds to return. They did that with 18K. If the town wants more they have to go to the state.

[Guest]

This is a joke of a gesture. The mayor asked the library to give us some of our money back and despite the $600k+ library surplus, the library board can only come up with an $18k token to spare the mayor the embarrassment of a flat out "No"?

This little PR stunt may have garnered some good press, but it backfired on me. I was on the fence about supporting a stand alone library, but given their meager contribution to reducing the tax burden in these trying times, I won't support one cent of additional funding for the library. I hope the school quadruples their rent!

[Guest]

Given our TC spending recently it's probably a good idea that the library did not return the surplus this year. It would have been used this year to artificially reduce the rate, but it would have been false financially. Just like using the 1.5 million from surplus. And we'd have nothing to gain for the long term.

I'd rather they keep this for now and then let the town go after it when it's really needed. We have major work to do and expenses with liberty way and COAH, so the town may very well need to go to the library well in the future. Because right now we have no surplus dedicated to these projecs, we're on pay as you go which is scary.

By the way to reduce the rate by 1 penny on the rate we need to save 178,000 in expenses.

[Guest]

To save money, Cranbury township is not back-filling an open spot for a police officer while the library sits on a $600k+ surplus which they hope to use to furnish a building they don't have. I don't remember losing sleep about library furniture last summer, but it sure would have been nice to give the police department the resources they needed to catch our burgalar.

[Guest2]

I believe it is another police car, not a police officer...

[Guest]

The police asked for another officer and it was denied. They also asked for 4 police cars and 2 were granted. This was in line with the needs of the department.

Aside from the library surplus, any employee we add creates a long term obligation. I don't always agree with the TC, but on this they were united and I too agreed.

The library surplus if it is used will be a one time income to the tax base. So let's not look at that to meet long term obligations.

[Guest]

[Guest]

How many total police officers do we have and how many vehicles?
How do we compare to other communities in this regard?
thank you for this information..
Also, how much is the total budget for police?

[Guest]

That's correct they have one less officer, but they have 18 officers overall. Including one dedicated to traffic. The town can operate efficiently without that officer and the chief never argued for the extra officer in the budget meeting.

Compared to other towns our size, we employ more officers than average. However, 3 are office staff, then you have 2 detectives. You also have the warehouses which are more than the average and the turnpike. So 18 officers 13 of which are out on patrol duty is fine for the town as it exists today. If COAH goes through then the police need to be increased.

The budget is sizable, I forget the final number. However, it is also lean. They could do with more training money, but the problem is training sessions are paid on an OT basis and the OT basis is reduced this year to save money. The OT budget for example is 105,000 that includes training, DARE, Cranbury Day, Memorial Day, Halloween, anything where extra officers are required.

I'd highly suggest people attend the budget meetings. If you do then issues like the library funding, police budgets, etc...are all discussed in detail.

[Guest]

Sometime attending the budget meetings can be confusing as they do go into a lot of detail on each budget item line. In past years, we could get a copy of the proposed budget through the town clerk. The offices are closed today because of the weather. Does anyone know if this is still possible?

[publius]

Maybe, we should close down the library to save money.
We can use the space for another baseball field.
I have no problem with giving the library money, so long as it's spent well. I don't like waste and inefficiency. But, a good library is one of the signs of a healthy democracy.
A couple of years ago I saw a "book" written by a Harpie named Ann Coulter in our dear library. I didn't think that it was worth the paper that it was printed on, but, I didn't complain (much) because I know that even the crazy people need to have a voice in the marketplace of ideas. Even if that voice is a shrieking lunatic, and the ideas are out of right field, and $20. of good taxpayer money was spent on this ridiculous screed.
A free-standing library is a good idea, but, only if we had the funds to support it. I love the idea of having the library attached to the school anyway. You don't see that very much, and, it may actually get kids to read more often if they are closer to the books!
I just wish they had the foresight to make it a bit bigger when they renovated some time ago.
Maybe we should spend money on KINDLES so we won't need so much space for darn paper books?
Maybe, Jeff Bezos will cut us a deal if we get enough of 'em!

p.s.
Have you seen Princeton Library recently???
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And it only cost them 18 million.