Budget Amendments OK’d by AADL Board

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In three separate votes, trustees of the Ann Arbor District Library board approved budget adjustments for the current fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014. The adjustments, which took place at the board’s Jan. 20, 2014 meeting, totaled $118,000.

The changes involve transfers from the library’s fund balance into the capital outlays budget, the library programming line item, and the purchased services line item:

  • Increase the capital outlays budget by $30,000 to buy a delivery truck from Varsity Ford.
  • Increase the library programming line item by $63,000 for costs related to the design, printing and mailing of event postcards and newsletters to all district residents. AADL director Josie Parker told the board that this is in direct response to recommendations in a 2013 communications audit by Allerton-Hill Consulting. [.pdf of Allerton-Hill report]
  • Increase the purchased services line item by $25,000 to cover a satisfaction survey of library district residents, to be conducted by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA. Parker said this is also a recommendation of the communications audit, and would be done this spring. The library previously used EPIC-MRA to conduct a phone survey in March of 2012, and results were reviewed at the board’s April 16, 2012 meeting. That survey had in part asked questions to gauge public support for financing a new downtown library. The board later put a bond proposal on the November 2012 ballot to fund a new downtown building, but it was rejected, failing to receive a majority of votes.

The 2013-2014 budget was approved by the board at its May 6, 2013 meeting. [.pdf of 2013-14 budget summary] According to the most recent financial report, the library had a fund balance of $8.188 million as of Dec. 31, 2013.

The board has made previous budget adjustments during this fiscal year. On Oct. 21, 2013, trustees authorized a $40,000 adjustment to AADL’s 2013-14 budget to cover costs of repairs and testing of the downtown library roof.

This brief was filed from the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown Ann Arbor District Library, 343 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link]