Date: October 31, 2006
To: RCPL Board of Trustees
From:
Re: October Budget Narrative
Date: October 31, 2006
To:
From:
Re: October Budget Narrative
As the year progresses, the narrative becomes longer. To make a more time efficient read, a table of contents has been provided. This will allow for easier navigation to answer questions.
I. City budget line items of interest
a. 4252 Repair Equipment
b. 4253 Repair Equipment
II. County budget line items of interest
a. 4261 Office Supplies
III. No new Library Board Fund budget items of interest
IV.
Previously discussed
City Budget line items no new information
V.
Previously discussed
VI.
Previously discussed
Library Board Fund budget line items no new information
The Library estimates spending approximately 8.3% of its budget on a monthly basis. To begin October, we should have spent approximately 83% or (8.3 * 10). To date we have spent 77.91% of the City budget, 74.56% of the County budget and 50.73% the Library Board Funds budget.
The City Council has approved the 2007 proposed budget. Soon, we will begin looking at trends between the 2006 budget and the 2007 budget to anticipate areas that will need to be closely monitored in the coming year.
Additionally, a supplemental appropriation has been submitted to the City Finance office for discussion at upcoming City Council meetings. The Library requested three items be supplemented back into the City budget this year.
- $26,000 from Library Board Funds budget to supplement temporary wages in the City budget (line item 4118)
- $3,746.50 supplemented into line item 4225 to cover other county library SDLN charges for the fiscal year 2006
- $10,671.57 supplemented into line item 4295 to reimburse the cost paid for the Gates Staying Connected grant we received this year.
I.
City budget
line items of interest
a.
Line item
4252 Repair Structures In September the Board Finance Committee met to
prioritize projects to be completed prior to the end of the year. At this time, the painting of the arches
outside the building has been completed along with the final installation of
carpet from the 2005 encumbrance. Several
other projects have been completed and others are still in process. As invoices arrive they will be reflected in
this line item.
b.
Line item
4253 Repair Equipment The self check machine annual maintenance
contract was paid in September, totaling $9,856. We will continue to have maintenance
contracts and repair come out of this line item for the remainder of the
year. These overages are being accounted
for in the end of year projections.
II.
County
budget line items of interest
a.
Line item
4261 Office Supplies The materials and postage for the letters to
county residents was paid for out of this line item. The Library purchased envelopes, labels,
paper as well as the postage cost for this mailing to 9,000 residents. Additionally, partial costs of library cards
ordered will be paid from this line item.
b.
Line item
4264 Janitorial/Chemical This line item was reduced for this year due
to some efficiency implemented by facilities staff in 2005. However, due to increased usage of the
building, the efficiencies implemented were not great enough to out weigh the
cost increase. This line item will
continue to be overspent throughout the year as needed to maintain the building
cleanliness and supplies. The city
budget is also overspent in this line item.
III.
Library
Board Fund budget line items of interest
The Board Funds budget document
now includes a second tab that outlines space use expenditures. In reviewing this tab the top portion shows
all expenditures to date. The bottom
portion shows what remaining expenses are currently planned and their estimated
prices.
IV.
Previously discussed City budget line items no new
information
a.
Line item 4111 OT wages Many of the projects for the space use stack
re-configuration required hourly staff to work longer shifts when the library
was closed in order to keep the library in a functional state for the public
during open hours. Preparation for and
working the SDLA conference also increased the amount spent in this line
item. Since the conference and the initial
space use project have been completed, we anticipate minimal overtime charges
throughout the remainder of the year.
This overage has been accounted for in end of year projections.
b.
Line item 4118 Temporary Wages In years past, the Library Board and the City Council
agreed that the Board Funds budget would supplement the City budget to cover
the cost of temporary wages by $26,000 annually. The supplemental appropriation documentation
has been sent forward to City Council for their October meetings to transfer
these funds. The amount will be added
into this line item by the end of the year leaving a remainder in this line
item.
c.
Line item 4111 Overtime Wages Line item 4211 -
General & Auto Liability This was budgeted at $6,832 while actual
expenses are $12,437. This amount is
based on premium information received for the current year for the entire City
of
d.
Line item 4225 Other Professional Services The cost for SDLN, Minitex/OCLC and other professional
services are taken from this line item.
Historically, Rapid City Public Library has paid the entire cost for all
three county libraries usage and was reimbursed by the other libraries. This year, the reimbursement totals
$3,746.50. This will be supplemented
back into this line item by the end of the year. We still owe $20,458.75 for the remainder of
this year. Professional services have
also been higher than originally anticipated due to space use planning and
implementation. This line item will go
over by years end but the overage has been accounted for in end of year
projections.
e.
Line item 4244 Lease/Purchases Due to a misunderstanding between the Library staff and
City Finance, the amount budgeted for this year was approximately $6K short. Background
information: Ten years ago, the City began an energy
conservation plan with Johnson Controls, which will be completed this
August. Since the plan expires mid-year,
the Library staff was under the impression that the cost would only be for part
of the year and therefore budgeted half of the yearly amount. However, the City took out a loan for this
program 10 years ago and set the yearly payment amount to cover 10 years. This means that even though the coverage is
only good through August, we are required to make a full last installment on
the loan. Additionally, there are a few leases
that will be renewed throughout the year, so this line item will continue to rise
slightly each month. When reviewing the
entire budget at the bottom line level, the savings seen in line item 4110
Salary and Wages should still off-set these additional costs.
f.
Line item 4246 Other Rentals The parking lot contract has been paid for the remainder of
the year. Any further expenses in this
line item will be paid from the County budget.
g.
Line item 4251 Rolling Stock This is a line item that had previously not been used by
the Library. According to City Finance,
we are to use this line item when purchasing parts for the two library
vehicles, such as oil filters, etc.
Historically, we had used line item 4262 Gas, Oil, Fuel for these
small purchases.
h.
Line item 4252 Repair Structures As previously explained, this line item includes the
$39,900 encumbrance for our carpet replacement.
Additionally, earlier in the year there was a misunderstanding of how to
read the budget reports between the Business Office and City Finance, and it
appeared that there were some extra funds within this line item. We have since determined that is not the
case. But with that in mind, we went
ahead and took care of the scheduled maintenance of various items throughout the
building during the first quarter. Most
of the work was preventative and scheduled.
We dont anticipate any additional large expenses from this line item
this year.
i.
Line item 4253A Repair Structures Provided is a list of reasons this line item will go over
for the year.
·
Earlier this year, the
main air handler drive and motor went out and needed replaced. The equipment was quite old but was not
budgeted for replacement in this budget year.
However, we were forced to replace it due to inoperability.
1.
Additionally, the
two air handlers run together and will not regulate air temperatures properly
if they are on two different systems.
Due to this, both air handlers needed to be replaced. This unexpected expense totaled about $8,500.
·
In July, we had to pay
two sizable invoices to Action Mechanical:
1.
$2442 for work
accomplished in 2004 that had been invoiced incorrectly. Apparently through inconsistent collection
efforts from the vendor and incomplete information provided to City Finance;
they were unable to determine which department should be billed. After investigation, it was determined that
is was an invoice due to the Library for work done at the end of 2004 to flush
and clean the heating and cooling system.
2.
$4361 for replace two
of six chillers of the air conditioning system.
The chillers were under warranty but the labor to replace them was
not. Due to the use of the building and
hot temperatures in the area; we were not able to sufficiently cool the
building without all six chillers operating at full strength without straining
the remaining compressors. Therefore,
the chillers had to replaced while they were still under warranty.
j.
Line item 4262 - Gas, Oil, Fuel In 2005, there was an oversight in payment of the gas
bills from June December. This mistake
was caught and corrected in February and therefore we have essentially
overspent this line item. Additionally,
we now have two city vehicles that require fuel and maintenance.
k.
Line item 4263 - Clothing, Food We did not include a separate amount in our projections
for this line item originally but had planned for $500 in spending of uniforms
and safety boots as required for our union members. These funds were included in the line item
4294 Other Miscellaneous Expenses, but upon review from City Finance were deemed
to be taken out of line item 4263.
l.
Line item 4264 Janitorial & Chemical Supplies Last year, we
had implemented some changes in hopes of a cost savings in supplies for the
building. For example, automatic paper
towel dispensers and acquiring more multi-purpose cleaners to avoid stocking a
variety of cleaning supplies. However,
these items have proved to not be a cost savings for the building due to
increased usage and increased hours of operation. Therefore, this line item had been reduced
and will most likely be overspent this year.
We are still looking for further efficiencies and ways to lower costs in
this line item in order to remain within our budgetary guidelines. We also have funding available in County
funds for this line item.
m.
Line item 4282 Natural Gas - Due to the recent jump in natural gas prices, we have seen
a spike in our costs. To date, we have
expended 115.34% of this budget line item.
Our need for natural gas to heat the building has decreased with the
summer months. However, we could see a
rise again in October or November. In
speaking with the City Finance office, this will likely be a problem all City
Departments will face this year and this will be an item up for discussion as a
supplemental appropriation in October pending availability of funds. This concern is being reviewed for our 2007
City budget planning process as well.
n.
Line item 4320 Building and Structures (Capital Outlay) The $20K requested as a supplemental appropriation from
2005 funding has now been loaded into the 2006 budget. This amount was requested to be used to for
the acoustics remediation project.
Additional information will be forthcoming.
o.
Line item 4341 General Materials As previously explained, the Library had been paying all
invoices for materials out of 4341 General Materials until expended and then
moved on to 4342, etc. However, in
conversations with City Finance, from an auditing standpoint, we are unable to
do that at this time. If we want to use
all four line items, we must split each invoice out and have each material
billed to its appropriate budget line.
Since we already do that in our acquisitions system, it would be
duplication and inefficient to do again in the accounting system.
·
City Finances
recommendation was to pay all materials out of 4341 General Materials for the
year. This line item will be overspent
by the amount equal to the other three line items by the end of the year.
·
For 2007, these four
line items have been collapsed into one line item 4341 General
Materials. Therefore, this will not be
an on-going issue in future budget cycles.
V.
Previously discussed County budget items no new
information
a.
Line item 4261A Office Supplies/Library Cards While this line
item appears to be overspent, it in fact is not. For budget planning purposes, the Library
separates out this line item into four categories:
4261A- Office
Supplies/Library Cards
4261B - Printing
4261C - Book/AV Processing
4261D - Postage.
·
However, the City has
only the capability to input a four-digit code into their system, so they are
unable to accommodate our 5 digit code.
Therefore, the reports we receive from the City will not differentiate
between these fields until we go live on the new system in the fall of 2006. At this time, these four line items total $15,950
and we have expended $6004.25; which is about 37.64%.
b.
Line item 4281 Telephone These expenses are paid from City and County funds. Periodically through the year, we pay all or
partial phone bills out of the
c.
Line item 4341 General Materials Similarly materials are distributed between both budgets
throughout the year. We have spent about
68% of the County budget but only about 35% of the City budget. We have slowed our spending in this line time
in County funding but will not overspend these line items in either budget.
d.
Line item 4296 - Office Equipment/Furniture This line item is currently budgeted at $5,000 this year
and we have expended $7,856.33. This
amount was moved from our 2005 budget to 2006 due to a miscalculation in our
close-out of 2005. We will not be
incurring any additional expenses in this line item during 2006 due to this
discrepancy.
VI.
Previously reviewed Library Board Funds budget items no
new information
This
budget is quite under spent for the year.
This is primarily due to the fact that part of these funds will be used
to implement the Space Use plan once completed. Additionally, part of these funds will be used
to supplement temporary wages as needed throughout the year.
a.
Line item 4225 Other Professional Services This cost for cutting apart the public services desks has
been processed for payment. The total
cost for this service was $3,610.80.
b.
Line item 4225D Other services (Consultant) This figure represents the invoices paid to date for the
Space Use Consultant.
c.
Line item 4252 Repair Structures - The following
explanation can best be understood by viewing the second tab of the Board Funds
budget document and scrolling to the bottom of the document to the Upcoming
budgeted expenditures for Space Use section.
The original space use budget
recommendation included transposed numbers for trenching the floor, electrical
and concrete patching for the new technology training center and commons
area. Originally stated as $1700, but
should have been $7100. Currently the
Library is in the process of receiving quotes that are within the $7100
range. This expense should be on target
with the actual amount budgeted for this expense.
d.
Line item 4320 Building and Structures The flooring
for the coffee shop has been paid. Background:
The budget was originally proposed with the majority of funding for
the coffee shop in this line item. At
the time of budget submission, we were unable to determine what portion of the
expenses would come from each individual line item. Therefore, we used this as a placeholder for
the funding. However, this is a Capital
Outlay line item, which means expenditures must be over $5,000 in order to be
paid out of it. So far, the costs have
been less than $5,000 and have come out of 4252 Repair Structures.
e.
Line item 4530 Reimbursements (Friends of the Library and
Returned Books) Similar to the City and
County budgets, this line item houses two pieces of information, the
reimbursement of book sales and the refunds for materials. Since the City only has one code for us to
use, both of these items are included in the total paid to date. The Friends are simply a pass through cost
and returns for lost materials dont seem to follow a pattern at this time.
EQUAL
OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER