Wheaton partially restores library funding
Wheaton Public Library’s budget will get a boost this spring, less than a year after budget cuts almost forced the facility to close on Fridays.
City Manager Don Rose said the library will receive about $200,000 more from the city, bringing its total allocation from the municipality to $3.3 million.
That still trails behind last year’s $3.4 million and the $3.7 million from the city two years ago.
The library also receives funds from other sources, making the total budget for all those years slightly higher.
But Rose said the extra money should, at the least, allow the library to extend its Friday hours, which had been cut to just four.
“They had a pretty substantial reduction in revenues,” Rose said. “This should allow them to operate all day on Friday.”
“The main factor is that sales tax and income tax revenue are a little bit better than projected for the past year,” Rose said. “It allowed us to shift some property tax money to the library.”
The library funding was discussed at Monday’s budget workshop, the second of three scheduled. The final workshop will be at 9 a.m. Saturday at city hall, 303 W. Wesley St. On March 14, a public hearing will be held to discuss the entire budget.
Last year, budget cuts had library officials threatening to close on Fridays. The city council responded by introducing a bill that would have forced the library to remain open. Instead, however, library officials reconsidered and remained open four hours on Friday once school began in September.
Rose said the city expects a budget surplus of about $800,000 and no layoffs are expected.
That is a stark contrast to just two years ago, when the city had to endure a second consecutive year of 30-plus layoffs. In those two years, the city decreased its work force by roughly 13 percent.
Rose said the budget process has gone smoothly thus far.
“There hasn’t been a great deal of discussion of anything in particular,” he said. “Overall, looking at all of the funds, we are only up about two-thirds of a percent so it’s essentially the same budget they saw last year.”
On Saturday, the city council is expected to talk about the fire department and all city hall departments.
“All are operating with less money, all with less staff,” he said. “We have eliminated positions within the city so certainly it’s good news that there are no additional staff reductions on the way.”
However, Rose said officials still cannot afford to be complacent.
“There are positive signs of recovery but there remain many concerns on the financial front,” he said. “While everything is OK at the moment, don’t get too excited because it’s only a snapshot in time here. Things can change really quickly.”