Minburn County residents upset by proposed $223 library fee

A funding change by the town of Vegreville has Minburn County residents facing a potential $223 library cardholder fee.

“I’m still sitting here seething about it,” says Maureen Newchuk, a Minburn County resident with a nine-yearold daughter who uses the Vegreville Centennial Library. “What they’re trying to do is pit the rural people against the county.”

When the Vegreville town council notified the board of the Vegreville Centennial Library that it would be moving to a per-capita funding system, a library board budget committee calculated that a $55.11 per-capita rate would be required from both councils to maintain service.

Vegreville approved the number, while Minburn County did not.

“The direction from the town council is that they want to fund this library and fund the services of the 5,758 people who live in Vegreville,” town manager Jody Quickstad said. “The board is just asking the county to provide funding at the same level that the town is providing.”

Instead, the county proposed an increase from its 2012 level of $12,000 to a potential $18,000 for 2013. It leaves the library with a budget shortfall of close to $80,000.

To make it up, the library board has proposed a $223 cardholder fee for county residents starting Jan. 7.

“It wasn’t a decision we made lightly,” library manager Kenneth Allan said. “The hole in our budget is real and this is the best way we felt we could deal with it at this point.”

According to Allan, the library currently serves a quarter of Minburn County residents, but county council funding makes up 2.5 per cent of the library’s budget. The town of Vegreville has provided between $358,000 and $361,000 annually, and according to Allan, the proposed $55.11 per-capita level will provide $317,340 in 2013.

“The town of Vegreville has made up that shortfall and is in essence subsidizing the use of the library for county residents,” Allan said.

Numbers collected by Alberta Municipal Affairs show the average per-capita contribution from municipal governments of Vegreville’s size is between $25 and $28.

Library budgets across the province are made up of provincial and municipal operating grants, as well as fundraising by individual boards. The library board has revamped its “friends of the library” program, and according to Allan, the board will be looking into additional funding sources to address the shortfall.

Minburn county council did not comment on the issue.

As for the 1,770 residents in the library’s service area, a letter was sent out to cardholders urging them to express their concerns to county representatives, something Newchuk isn’t interested in doing.

“I haven’t approached them because, given the way they are, I don’t think it would help,” Newchuk said.