By Patricia Bogumil
Editor
A 2013 Waterford Public Library (WPL) budget of about $691,000 features double digit employee raises that have been approved by the WPL board.
But the library budget received mixed reviews when discussed recently at a joint meeting of the village’s Finance Committee and board Committee of the Whole.
The good news for village taxpayers is that the library’s 2013 budget anticipates no increase to the $258,906 paid in 2012 by village taxpayers for library funding.
But within the library’s own budget, salaries are jumping in 2013 for most wage categories – at around 20 per cent or more for most positions.
The new salary schedule will make WPL comparable to what similarly sized libraries pay, explained Pam Belden, the library’s director.
The library’s wages were historically low because employees also received fully funded pensions and health benefits as part of their total compensation. “Those benefits compensated for wages on the low end of the scale,” she explained.
But this year, full-timers’ pensions are just half the amount as in the past, and WPL employees are also paying for insurance, she said.
“The library board wants the staff to be compensated at a fair rate for what they do,” explained Belden.
WPL wages have remained the same for the past three years, and adjustments to library wage categories have not been made in the last five years, she noted.
After reviewing comments on a survey sent to employees by the village in March, the library board asked that Belden conduct a study comparing library wages paid in similarly sized libraries.
The new 2013 wage structure reflects the information from that study.
• The WPL 2013 budget proposes no change to the $7.25-$10.50 paid in the shelvers category.
• The wage range for desk clerks and tech services will increase from $8.50-$11.97 to $11.10-$13.97.
• Supervisors’ salary range will increase from $9.38-15.20 to $14.01- $17.76.
• Librarians’ salary range will increase from $11.90-$21.23 to $16.94-$22.60.
• Belden, as director, earns $26.11 per hour. The director salary range will increase from $25.76-$31.77.
These wage increases would be funded not by village taxpayers, explained Belden, but from increased county funding expected in 2013.
But two or three village finance committee members and several village board members have expressed concern about the salaries being eyed, said Village President Tom Roanhouse.
He explained that while the village board decides how much village tax money to allot for the library’s budget, the library board decides how to spend the funds within its budget, by state statute.
Each year, the library relies on the county and village as its two major funding sources.
Anticipated revenues in the 2013 WPL budget include:
• Village general property tax: $258,906;
• Reimbursement from Racine and other counties: $409,095;
• Miscellaneous income: $700;
• Meeting room income: $670;
• Interest income: $77;
• Copier/printer income: $3,725;
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