Voters OK Stone Ridge Library budget

Voters have given 36-6 approval to a $323,139 Stone Ridge Library budget for 2018 carrying a 1.97 percent increase of $6,249.

The endorsement Monday includes a $264,577 property tax levy, representing a 2 percent increase of $5,187.

Director Jody Ford said the budget required cutting expenses in several lines to accommodate efforts to keep up with state mandate increases in minimum wage.

“The main thing we were addressing in this one is our wages and payroll tax,” she said. “Like a lot of libraries we’re ... planning that out now and over the next couple years.”

Under the spending plan wages will be $223,539, for a 4.65 percent increase of $9,929.

Ford said there is also a reduction in the amount of revenue expected from fines from $13,000 to $12,000 based on implementation of the Library Elf program that sends a reminder to people when books are due.

“The other thing we’re doing now is starting a regular maintenance schedule,” she said. “We’ve been (working) 10 years ... on getting the building back in shape. So now we’re working on regular maintenance so we can keep everything as it need to be.”

Other changes in the budget include:

• Newsletter and membership communications at $1,200, for a 38.02 percent decrease of $736.

• Repairs at $5,500, for a 15.38 percent decrease of $1,000.

• Accountant expenses at $1,500, for a 40 percent decrease of $1,000.

• General office expenses at $3,000, for a 14.29 percent decrease of $500.

• Sales revenue at $3,000, for a 50 percent increase of $1,000.

• Grants and contributions at $3,000 for a 100 percent increase of $1,500.