Library Board of Trustees

Amesbury Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes v2 – February 23, 2022 Amesbury Public Library Board of Trustees Location: Virtual (Zoom) meeting RECEIVED Wednesday February 23, 2022 -- 7:00 PM By City Clerk at 1:52 pm, 3/10/22 Board of Trustees (BOT) Members present: Anne Campbell, Audrey Proctor, Laurie Cameron, Jessica Ducrow, Pam Gilday Members not present: Bethany Sullivan, Brenda Rich, Delia Rinaldi, Gail Browne APL Director: Aimie Westphal - present I. Call to order at 7:00 PM by Anne as Chair. II. Vote for FY23 Budget Discussion of packet contents –– 1) APL_Goals_FY23, 2) Municipal Appropriation Requirement (MAR) calculation, and 3) the proposed FY23 department budget document itself. Items 2 and 3 had been previously made available to, and discussed at, the Feb 16 BOT FinCom meeting. Note from Aimie’s email of 2/17 - Attached is the proposed FY23 budget, all departments were asked to present a level funded budget but I got approval to instead submit one that meets the MAR and that is reflected in the attachments. Also attached are my MAR calculation and FY23 goals that I was tasked with writing that will go in the budget book alongside our budget. The main item of note is salaries. I cannot calculate the accurate amount at this time since we are in union negotiations so do not yet know what the steps or COLA will be. I will share more on this during the meeting. The proposed FY23 budget total is identical to the MAR. The FY23 MAR value is $879,471. The MAR is defined in MGL Chapter 78 Section 19A. Excerpt from item 2 above: A municipality must meet the MAR or apply for and receive a waiver of the MAR to be eligible to be certified for State Aid to Public Libraries by the MBLC. Capital appropriations cannot be used to meet the MAR. The APL Director provided this proposed budget to Mayor Gove on Friday Feb 18 (ahead of their scheduled March 3 meeting) with the understanding that the APL BOT would be holding a special meeting (tonight’s meeting) to discuss and vote on this proposed budget prior to March 3. At their scheduled March 3 meeting, Aimie will officially present the APL BOT-approved budget to the Mayor. The MAR budget number is above a level funded budget. The MAR is the minimum accepted by the state. The BOT has some discussion about the problems faced when a budget does not meet the MAR. Laurie asks about the tree service line item – overall tree removal is handled by DPW but special trees such as the sycamore require ongoing care – approximately $1400. Motion by Laurie to vote to approve the FY23 budget of $879,471 as presented. Seconded by Jessica. Unanimous. III. Adjourn: 7:09 PM - Motion to adjourn by Pam, seconded by Laurie. Unanimous. 1