With a bond vote approaching, Woodstock Library trustees voted to borrow $75,000 from the operating budget to fund ongoing expenses for a new 12,500-square-foot building.
Unable to pay $15,102.40 in outstanding bills from Kimley-Horn for engineering services related to the state-required environmental review and from architect Stephen Tilly plus possible yet-to-be invoiced legal fees totaling $13,000, the board opted for the loan from operating funds. Paying the outstanding invoices, not including the expected legal bill, would have put the capital fund $11,475 in the red.
Spending for the project so far is $278,102, including the outstanding bills.
Trustee and fiscal officer Liz Rosen said the action was a loan and not a transfer at this point because the board expects to pay it back from a $5.8-million bond. Should voters defeat the bond issue on the November 3 ballot, the funds will have to be paid back by other means.
“We’re borrowing more money than we need at the moment,” said Rosen. “If the bond doesn’t pass, we can pay back a good portion. We’ll fundraise for the rest.” If the funds cannot be raised, the board will need to vote to make it a permanent transfer. Trustees want to avoid that, she said.
The board has transferred surplus operating funds to the capital fund in the past, but this is the first time it’s been called a loan. It transferred $100,000 in March 2019 and another $25,000 in August 2019.
The construction cost estimate is $5.4 million, though trustees expressed confidence that construction manager agent JC Alten can find savings to bring that sum down to the publicly stated $4.4 million figure.
Additional costs not related to construction could bring the total cost to $6.9 million. Trustees are hopeful fundraising will fill the gap between the $5.8 million bond and the total funds needed.
Regional library funds cut
The state has cut 2.5 percent in library aid and another 20 percent due to the Covid-19 pandemic.“Mid-Hudson is operating on reserves and has been for awhile and is not even sure it will get the (remaining) 77.5 percent,” reported Mid-Hudson board member Stuart Auchincloss at last week’s meeting of the Woodstock Library board. Libraries rely on the Mid-Hudson Library system for services such as inter-library loans and for trustee training and advocacy.
The inter-library loan service has not been cut in Woodstock because of its popularity.
Staff keeps library open
“It’s hard to welcome people back and also hurry them along,” library director Jessica Kerr said to the Woodstock Library board last week. “It’s a strange combination of things.”
The library offers curbside pickup. Up to ten patrons can be in the building at a time. A system of tags is used to keep track of how many have entered at a given time.
“We have been getting busier,” Kerr said.
Library election October 1
Library director Jessica Kerr said 519 absentee ballots were requested for this year’s library election instead of the usual 45. That may pose an extra challenge at counting time.
Kerr was concerned about the limit on the number of people inside the building for in-person voting, so the vote may take place outside. The board approved hiring three new election inspectors, Maureen Cummins, Carol Kampuries, and Karen Hicinbothem. The usual ones are older and have decided not to risk exposure to Covid-19.
“I’m seriously considering setting up our vote outside if the weather is conducive,” she said.
Two candidates, Jeff Collins and Linda Lover, are running unopposed for two five-year terms.
Collins, who was appointed to fill a vacancy, is running for his first elected term. Lover is running for the seat to be vacated by trustee Selma Kaplan, who has opted not to seek re-election.
The budget is $672,200 and represents a 1.83 percent spending increase, but a zero tax levy increase through the use of $29,355 in prior-year surplus funds. The levy is $28,828 under the state-imposed tax cap.
Voting is October 1 from noon to 9 p.m. at the library.