Citizens Library dealing with reduced support
Two municipalities reduced their funding to Citizens Library for 2015.
North Franklin Township cut its anticipated donation this year from $10,000 to $5,000, while East Washington Borough reduced its contribution from $15,000 to $7,500.
The library’s 2015 budget of $957,201 was developed in anticipation of about $25,000 coming from those municipalities.
Library board member Dennis McWreath, who represents Amwell Township, said the cuts will result in a nine percent reduction in contributions from municipal bodies.
In addition to North Franklin and East Washington, the library traditionally receives contributions from Amwell, Buffalo, Donegal, East Finley, Morris, Canton, South Franklin, South Strabane and West Finley townships, the city of Washington, Claysville Borough, and McGuffey and Washington school districts.
The library was expecting $135,000 from those local municipal appropriations, but that number will drop to about $123,000.
East Washington Borough Council President Guy Toomey said the council’s uncertainty about the impact Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed severance tax on the natural gas industry will have on local municipalities was a factor in East Washington’s decision to reduce its contribution.
“I’m a big supporter of the library, but when we were planning the budget, we didn’t know whether we could rely on the severance tax,” said Toomey.
Silvio Passalaqua, chairman of the North Franklin Township Board of Supervisors, said in March the township reduced its donation because of unexpected repairs it needed to make to the township building on Franklin Farms Road.
The township also has been considering a $10,000 reduction in its contribution to North Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Company as a result of unexpected bills and a drop of nearly $16,000 in real estate taxes paid by Washington Crown Center mall.
“Any amount that we lose hurts,” said McWreath. “But every organization and government body is having difficulty meeting their budget, so I can appreciate the situation East Washington and North Franklin find themselves in.”
Citizens Library receives approximately 28 percent of its funding from the state, five percent from Washington County, about 16 percent from municipal bodies and 51 percent from other sources, including investments, donations and fundraisers.
Diane Ambrose, director of Citizens Library, said she plans to meet with representatives from East Washington and North Franklin later this year, “and if their financial situation changes in the future, we hope they see their way clear to bring up their appropriations to us.”
Citizens Library Board includes nine representatives: Troy Breese for Washington School District, Joan Bruno for North Franklin Township, Dennis Franz for McGuffey School District, Susan Martinelli for East Washington Borough, McWreath, Tracy Graham for the city of Washington, Ken Rigby for the Orphans Court, Cynthia Rossi for South Strabane Township and Mary Ellen West for Canton Township.
Washington & Jefferson College withdrew its representative in 2014, and Trinity Area School Board lost its representative last year when it eliminated a library donation because of budget constraints.
Citizens Library serves as the headquarters for the Washington County Library System and as the District Center for Washington, Greene and Fayette counties.
In other library news, Budd Baer Subaru of Washington donated $10,000 to the Washington County Library System as part of Subaru of America’s Share the Love event.
Subaru’s program, now in its seventh year, benefits four national charities: the ASPCA, the Meals on Wheels Association of America, Make-A-Wish, the National Park Foundation and local dealerships can select one hometown charity to support.
Ambrose, who also serves as director of the county library system, said the funds will be used to purchase books and materials for summer reading programs. Those materials will be divided among the county library system’s 14 libraries.