By Meg Peters
Review Staff Writer
The Orion Township Board of Trustees received and filed a very healthy financial audit for the Orion Township Public Library Monday night at the board meeting.
Independent from the township, the Library Board of Trustees contracts for their own audit and sets their own annual budget. For 2015, the library board approved a $2.05 million budget.
‘Overall everything is in good shape,? director Karen Knox said.
The library wrapped up the 2014 year with $4,417,463 in total assets, a combination of about $2.5 million in the library’s general fund, or savings, and about $1.9 million in acquired property taxes. Residents pay an annual millage rate of 1.4189 on their property taxes which acts as 90 percent of the library’s main source of revenue, or budget.
According to the report, the library received an increase of $35,829 in taxes from 2013, implying that the economy in Orion Township has begun to stabilize and grow a little.
Total expenditures for the library, including operation expenses, salaries, supplies and materials, utilities, and repairs and maintenance, total $2,379,650.
With total revenues at $2,081,420, the library balanced the budget using a small amount of money from the general fund, creating a fund balance of $2,500,674 going into 2015.
Knox said the near-$2.5 million in the general fund is a ‘healthy amount for us,? especially if the board decided to continue renovating the library, including the adult services section, this year. ?
Last year the library spent $298,230 in renovations from the general fund to refurbish the lobby, on improvements to the youth area? including new computer stations and updated technology? self check-out stations, and on other much needed interior improvements.
Ideas for the improvements were generated from community response, she said.
2014 was the first year the board planned their budget according to a strategic plan conducted by the library in 2013, where more than 900 citizen responses were taken into consideration. ?
The library board has not officially approved any plan of action for renovations in 2015, however there is talk.
Knox said possibilities include renovating the rest of the library and focusing on the adult services section with bare bones modifications, including ripping out old carpet, repainting and installing new furniture.
The library is also setting aside $164,000 for additional capital improvements in 2015. Much of the funding will update new technology, including public computers on the adult side, upgrades to internet services, and fixing the current HVAC system. Money will also be focused on upgrading the periodicals room.
Because the revenues didn’t fluctuate much from the amount earned last year, with $2,081,420 in 2015 and $2,030,592 earned in 2014, the library will offer very similar community programs, Knox said, and adjusting services according to community wants.
‘We started a blue-ray movie collection, a stable technology that the community showed interest in, and we put I-pads in the youth area. We follow what the community’s needs are in that respect and shift money from one place to another to meet those changing needs.?
All in all, Knox said the board was pleased with their financial situation.
‘We were able to use money we have saved to meet the community’s needs, and the library board is pretty proud of that.?
?
?
?