Budget Update

 

Budget Update

Submitted by Anna Lyle

I have an update on the County’s 2022 budget process.  I don’t have any definitive information at this time, but wanted staff to know where we are in the process.

Background for new staff: The Library operates on a fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) budget and the County operates on a calendar year budget.  Although the Library is a separate entity from the County, the majority of our funding comes from Forsyth County Government, so their budget process is extremely important to us.  It is our only opportunity to request and advocate for increases in funding for additional staff, pay increases, new services, and operational needs.  We also receive funding from the State of Georgia, but this funding is determined by a formula based on the number of counties and population served.  We have no opportunity to change this amount.

As you know from the March 22^nd blog post about the compensation study, we have a major ask this year.  We are requesting $502,000 to implement pay increases recommended by the study.  We are also asking for $75,000 to increase our electronic materials budget. This amount is a much higher increase than we typically request.

Steve Kight, Nikki Watkins, and I met with the County’s Finance Committee on Wednesday. This included Commissioners Mills, Cooper, and John; County Manager Kevin Tanner; County CFO Marcus Turk; and County finance staff.  We had a great discussion and the committee members asked questions about funding sources, data-driven decision making, the compensation study, and issues related to electronic materials.  We will not have their decision for some time, but are hopeful.

We do not know how the request for $502,000 will impact potential funding for a merit or cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA).  The County is planning to fund a 4% increase for County staff.  A 4% increase for Library staff would cost $218,420 (based on current salaries), separate from the potential salary study increases.  So our actual personnel increase request is $720,420.  We will work with whatever amount they provide to maximize the benefit to staff.

We were able to share one piece of good news with the County’s Finance Committee.  We withdrew our request for $100,000 to help us replace the AMH at Post Road.  We were able to do this because the Library Board accepted the staff recommendation to commit $100,000 in savings from the current fiscal year to the IT Equipment Replacement Plan.  We now have $229,000 in funds committed for IT equipment replacement, which should cover the cost of a replacement AMH.

 Are you wondering why that $100,000 was not applied to staff salaries?  It’s a sound financial practice to spend savings on one-time or occasional expenses such as vehicle purchases and equipment replacement, but not personnel expenses.  Personnel involves ongoing expenses, so we need the additional funding to continue year after year.  That’s what the County has to consider.  Increasing Library personnel funding by $502,000 or $720,420 is not a one-time expense on their part.

 We will provide updates as additional information becomes available.  As always, please let me know if you have questions.