Editor’s Note: Last week, the Oxford Leader submitted questions to Oxford Public Library Director Bryan Cloutier regarding the Nov. 4 millage request.

OXL: Why is the Oxford Public Library seeking this 10-year, 0.4518-mill increase? What exactly is it needed for? How will it be used? How will it benefit the library and its patrons?
Cloutier: This millage request is not an increase. It is called a Headlee Override. The Headlee Amendment was adopted to protect homeowners from having their taxes escalate faster than inflation due to the historical pattern of rapidly inflating home values. Since 2007, the tax base has declined significantly more than the inflation rate. However, tax computations were not subsequently increased to bring the tax yield back to what would be considered an inflationary growth. As a result, despite growing public demand for library services, we have been losing ground to inflation. To correct this, state law requires a public vote to override the automatic tax rate reductions. The Library is asking voters to approve a .4518 mill tax to restore (not increase) the tax rate previously authorized.
Nothing has changed since the community last considered this question in August of 2012 and again in August 2014 other than a significant reduction in the level of funds remaining in the library’s fund balance. A portion of the library’s savings account has been relocated in order to reinvest in the library’s infrastructure and to provide for additional methods to reduce operational expenses even more. Revenue continues to be down by nearly $400,000 per year, while usage is at an all-time record high with nearly 300,000 visitors recorded during 2013.
The Oxford Public Library is a very complex and complicated building to maintain’it is not at all like a home or any other industrial or commercial site for that matter. The level of technology and security that is necessary to operate a 21st Century library is a significant piece of that budget. Often underestimated, the library has made every attempt to reduce its operating costs wherever possible. The library cannot reduce costs anymore without it having a significant impact on its Plan of Service; i.e., the level and types of critical programs and informational services it provides that directly benefits the residents of Oxford.
By restoring the millage rate back to 1.85 voters would choose to maintain current hours of operation, continue to value popular educational programming and to increase availability of popular titles and databases such as Ancestry Library Edition and access to business and occupational resources. The last time the library received a tax increase was in 1995, nearly 20 years ago, when Oxford had less than 12,000 residents. Today Oxford has over 25,000 residents, and as you would expect, our circulation is up as is demand for our programs. OPL represents everything ‘community?, therefore, a solid investment in the library’s future is a solid investment in the future of our community, its young families, its youth and its senior citizens.
OXL: What are the consequences for the library and its patrons if this millage proposal fails? What will the impact be to users?
Cloutier: Without the approval of this Headlee Override, the Library will close on Sundays beginning January 1, 2015. Likewise, hours of operation during the week will be reduced accordingly as well. Important educational programs for families and children will be reduced, unfortunately making waiting lists to get into most programs more prevalent. An additional reduction to staffing is not out of the question as well. Staffing levels have already been reduced by 36 percent making it very difficult to keep up with increased demand for library services.
OXL: What steps has the library taken over the past few years to cut its expenses in light of decreases in property tax revenue??
Cloutier: Staffing levels have been reduced by nearly 36%; retirement compensation packages were reduced by 50%; salaries were frozen unilaterally over the last 7 years, healthcare costs were reduced by 21%; energy consumption by 14%; and the materials/book budget by 36%. This is just part of what has been done. By means of implementing business philosophies recognized and proven to be successful in the private sector, traditional governmental operations is a thing of the past at OPL.
OXL: What steps has the library taken to generate additional revenue from sources other than property taxes?
Cloutier: OPL continues to build relationships with local businesses, Oxford Public Library Friends (a separate non-profit advocacy and fundraising arm of the library), the Four County Community Foundation, Northeast Oakland Historical Society and other private foundations, as well as with State and Federal agencies such as the Michigan Humanities Council, Smithsonian Institute and The National Archives, just to name a few. Private donations and partnerships like these have saved our taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars and have named the Oxford Public Library as one of only five host sites (the only public library) selected to host a traveling Smithsonian Exhibition, ‘The Way We Worked? later this year. The Library also maintains two Endowment Funds (Oxford Public Library Endowment and the Florence Oberg Endowment) of which current and potential benefactors can contribute to on an annual basis.
OXL: The library has a fund balance (i.e. reserves) of approximately $1 million (please note: if this figure has changed, please provide the new number) and a budget of a little over $1 million. Why does the library need to maintain such a large fund balance? What is the justification for requesting a tax increase when the library has such a significant amount in reserve funds?
Cloutier: The library does not have a large fund balance. In the private sector, OPL would be likened to a multimillion dollar corporation. It could be very easy for someone to quickly underestimate and be critical of what goes into keeping its doors open. Certainly OPL has taken some criticism for even having a fund balance. Being responsible stewards of its taxpayers? dollars and planning for the future is not something the library should rightfully or justifiably take any criticism for. Furthermore, to label it as being ‘significant? is not at all a fair assessment of its net worth either. We have fiscally responsible business minded people overseeing the library’s operations. This is why the library has been able to stave off any significant cuts impacting its Plan of Service until now.
Most residents who have been quick to criticize the library’s fund balance have been comparing it to their own savings accounts. In this case we are no longer comparing apples with apples, but perhaps more accurately, limes with pumpkins. We cannot continue to do this, nor is it a healthy or a realistic outlook and comparison. Oxford Public Library is used more by Oxford residents than perhaps any other public service in this community. Its return on investment is minimal compared to what it gives back to all of the residents of Oxford.
OXL: Does the library have a specific plan in place as to how this reserve money will be spent? If so, what is this plan? In other words, please explain exactly how this money will be spent and why, and what the timeline is for spending it?
Cloutier: Listening to our taxpayers, a portion of the library’s savings account has been used to pay for ongoing maintenance to the library’s HVAC systems, roof and technological infrastructure. All of which are aging and approaching end of life. From a business plan perspective these are perfectly acceptable uses for the fund balance. A portion of the library’s savings has been reallocated to its operating budget as well. From a business plan perspective this is not an acceptable long term solution to its loss in revenue, or future projected cash flow analysis.
Here is just one example of why it is misleading: most households who deal with a furnace repair would find themselves forking over a couple of hundred dollars. Because of the complexity of the library’s HVAC system; e.g., rooftop units, air exchangers and hydronic automated boilers, a repair at the library can easily reach several thousand dollars very quickly. Likewise, to replace a furnace at home might be a couple of thousand dollars, whereas at the library one rooftop unit (and there are five, and two boilers) that can add up to fifty to sixty thousand dollars per unit when you factor in the cost to place a unit up on the roof and to take an old one down.
It is not the same’so we should not in all fairness, be comparing the library’s savings account to that of our own. When there is an aging infrastructure involved in a complex multimillion dollar community investment’and it is a community investment, there is a responsibility to our taxpayers to have a savings account that may at any given time approach one million dollars. It is necessary in order to cover cash flow, emergency and planned maintenance issues, and day-to-day operations at a time when tax revenue alone is not bridging the gap.
OXL: If a voter came up to you on the street and asked why they should vote ‘yes? on this millage proposal, in a nutshell, what would your response be?
Cloutier: This is a very complex issue that deserves more than an answer ‘in a nutshell.? Because we are so cognizant of our economic forecast’we have reduced our operation and legacy costs by nearly four hundred thousand dollars in an effort to maintain critical programs and services our community has come to expect from its library. We pride ourselves that we have kept our promise to our taxpayers to not cut a single service or program that was in place before our journey began. Because of prudent oversight, we expanded on our Plan of Service to include a Special Needs collection for students, parents, and teachers of students with special needs. We established a book discussion group for at-risk teens through our exclusive relationship with Crossroads for Youth, and we developed a Play and Learn Zone where parents and children explore and refine fine motor, cognitive, linguistic, creative, sensory, social and emotional skills, each a critical component necessary for early childhood development. We are a place where cultural experiences come to life at our Gardenside Concert Series, one of our author talks, or by participating in a Smithsonian experience. We are personalized delivery to homebound patrons who need a book to read, but cannot leave their home.
OXL: Is there anything else you wish to add?
Cloutier: Yes; voting ‘No? on this proposal because of confusion or opposition to the DDA Capture is the wrong solution to this issue. It is quite likely that 100% of your tax dollars to support the library comes to the library. It is only a very small portion of households located within the DDA District that this affects. If you still have an issue with this’you need to contact your State Senator and Representative to let them know’only they can change this legislation.