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| The Large and Lovely New Erving Library |
The Boston-based Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) has been spending a lot of time here in western Massachusetts lately. Library Building Specialists Lauren Stara and Andrea Bunker met with town officials and residents of Shutesbury and Otis, the two remaining towns applying for the Small Library Pilot Project. Florida and Chester have withdrawn from the program.
For Shutesbury, activities have consisted of a meeting on August 3 between the commissioners and various town officials and an August 17 meeting with residents at the Athletic Club. Both meetings were informational in nature.
On August 30, Ms. Stara and Ms. Bunker hosted a tour of the new library in Erving, an 8,300 square foot building that cost $4.9 million. According to the Shutesbury Library Trustees, this tour was required by the terms of the Pilot Project although there is no mention of this in the Program Notice. In 2010, Shutesbury’s plan for a new library was 5,800 square feet. Using such a large building as a guidepost for this new project seems like overkill.
MBLC’s paradigm is “bigger is better”. As I mentioned in a previous post, Ms. Stara was prodding the audience at the August 17 meeting to “dream big” regarding the design of a new library in Shutesbury.
Though the Library Trustees note that Shutesbury differs from Erving and our library will likely be smaller, it seems the MBLC may not be getting the message. Here are some facts they may be missing.
Erving’s Residential Tax Rate is Much Lower than Shutesbury’s
Erving’s Library Financing Model is Not Feasible for Shutesbury
With its General Stabilization Fund balance of $10.3 million in fiscal year 2019, Erving used $2.5 million of those funds toward the building of its new, $4.9 million library. The town plans to partially pay itself back through an annual appropriation of $273,000 over five years and is expecting the last installment of more than $540,000 in reimbursement costs from the state Library Building Commission.
Notably, Erving was able to achieve all this while increasing its residential tax rate by only $0.24. The town was able to use a small portion of its hefty savings to fund its new library, thus averting debt payments for 10 to 20 years as well as attendant financing costs.
Shutesbury’s current tax rate of $22.61 will rise if we have to borrow to finance our portion of a new library’s cost. What we don’t know is how much we will be asked to spend this time around--until the very last minute. Hypothetically, assuming the same $273,000 annual appropriation that Erving had, this adds $1.21 to Shutesbury’s tax rate or $302.00 to the annual tax bill for a property valued at $250,000 for each of 5 years.
The Annual Increase in Shutesbury’s Library Budget May be HUGE
Erving’s annual budget for its new 8,300 square foot library increased by a whopping 266% compared to its former 1,600 square foot building --from $66,004 in fiscal year (FY) 2017 (the year before Erving was awarded the grant) to a request for $175,549 for FY 2022.
For Shutesbury, expenses for our 700 square foot library totaled nearly $70,000 in FY 2017 and $83,600 for FY 2022. If Shutesbury’s library budget increases similarly, we can expect a large, ongoing annual expense. Multiplying $70,000 by 266% gives us $186,200. This increase will add another $0.45 to the tax rate, or $113.50 every year to the tax bill for a property valued at $250,000.
This is just an estimate, of course, but you get the idea. While its library is smaller, Shutesbury’s library budget was larger in 2017 than Erving’s, so it’s not unfathomable to think that costs associated with a new library will be much higher than they are with our current library.
One thing is for certain: Erving’s financial position is much better able to support new budget expenditures than Shutesbury's. Financially speaking, the two towns are not comparable. As this project moves forward, we need to remember that fact.
