At one of the earliest budget hearings, supervisors were asked
to decide whether to approve an additional cut to county library
funding. An $82,000 recommended cut to the San Benito County Free
Library’s more than $700,000 budget
– including the reduction of a half-time position – was
increased by another $100,000 July 8 when county supervisors Jaime
De La Cruz and Robert Rivas proposed an additional paring that
would help reduce the amount needed from the county reserves.
At one of the earliest budget hearings, supervisors were asked to decide whether to approve an additional cut to county library funding. An $82,000 recommended cut to the San Benito County Free Library’s more than $700,000 budget – including the reduction of a half-time position – was increased by another $100,000 July 8 when county supervisors Jaime De La Cruz and Robert Rivas proposed an additional paring that would help reduce the amount needed from the county reserves.
“The $82,000 cut was done through a creative approach to doing a reorganization so we could do more with less,” said Nora Conte, the county librarian. “We went after additional revenue (in the form of grants) and we were successful.”
The presentation by Conte caused some confusion for supervisors, for those not on the budget committee had not been apprised of the additional $100,000 cut.
“The issue is that library services are not mandated,” Inman said. “We are subsidizing a city library and the majority of the users are city residents. We looked at various scenarios to do it and we are recommending to do it.”
He said he could not provide line items for the proposed cuts because they had not been presented to him by the department head before the hearing.
The day before the budget hearing, Conte said she was still working to come up with a plan to make the cuts or fill the deficit with increased revenues.
“It will hurt this community,” Conte said. “When the economy is like it is, people are using the library.”
She noted that the library offers access to the Internet, homework help, mobile services to those in rural areas or without access to transportation, and early intervention programs.
The state budget is still up in the air, and Conte is anticipating cuts from state funding to the local library, as well.
“This is a big cut when you look at it,” she said. “To me that 25.6 percent is huge for a little department…”
She noted that the library has more than 30,000 cardholders and that citizens can no longer access Santa Clara County library services for free.
Before the board Tuesday morning, instead of making suggestions for line items to cut, Conte presented a three-point plan to increase revenues.
“I recommend the board take a look to include a city increase to the contribution,” she said noting that Hollister provides $15,000 a year to the library. She suggested that amount should increase to $150,000.
The second recommendation was to implement a $10 library card fee for city residents, since the library is primarily funded by the county. The third recommendation was to look at creating a special assessment district to help fund the costs.
Botelho and Barrios noted that the city would be unlikely to increase its contribution.
“I’m happy we get $15,000, let alone $150,000,” Botelho said.
Barrios said that two years ago in an intergovernmental meeting the topic was broached and city committee members said that it wasn’t feasible to increase the funding.
Members of the Friends of the Library showed up at the hearing in support. As of press time, the supervisors had planned to revisit the department’s budget Wednesday afternoon. No decision had been made.
Check back later for an update on the board’s decision on the library’s budget.
