CITY COUNCIL: Resolution Entering into Five-Year Joint Strategic Plan with Harrison Memorial Library Board of Trustees & Carmel Public Library Foundation

Meeting Date: January 4, 2011
Prepared by: Janet Cubbage, Library Director

City Council
Agenda Item Summary

Name: Consideration of a Resolution entering into a five-year Joint Strategic Plan with the Harrison Memorial Library Board of Trustees and the Carmel Public Library Foundation whereby the Carmel Public Library Foundation will incrementally assume City costs up to $100,000 for part-time library staffing.

Description: The Harrison Memorial Library Board of Trustees and the Carmel Public Library Foundation propose to enter into a five-year Joint Strategic Plan with the City whereby the Carmel Public Library Foundation will incrementally assume the City’s costs, up to $100,000, for part-time library staffing. The plan will allow the Library to maintain current staffing, hours and services while reducing the amount of the City’s funding for part-time library staff. The plan calls for a partnership between the three entities and consists of specific goals and action steps regarding its implementation. A detailed financial/ fundraising plan for the Carmel Public Library Foundation is included.

Overall Cost:
City Funds: N/A
Grant Funds: N/A

Staff Recommendation: Adopt the Resolution.

Important Considerations: If the City adopts the Resolution, it can expect to realize from the Carmel Public Library Foundation the following revenues to offset library staffing costs through Fiscal Year 2014/15:
• FY 2011/12 $60,000
• FY 2012/13 $90,000
• FY 2013/14 $100,000
• FY 2014/15 $100,000

Decision Record: N/A

Reviewed by:

______________________________ _________________
Rich Guillen, City Administrator Date

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
STAFF REPORT
TO: MAYOR McCLOUD AND COUNCIL MEMBERS
THROUGH: RICH GUILLEN, CITY ADMINISTRATOR
FROM: JANET CUBBAGE, LIBRARY DIRECTOR
DATE: DECEMBER 16, 2010
SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION ENTERING INTO A FIVE-YEAR JOINT STRATEGIC PLAN WITH THE HARRISON MEMORIAL LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND THE CARMEL PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION WHEREBY THE CARMEL PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION WILL INCREMENTALLY ASSUME CITY COSTS UP TO $100,000 FOR PART-TIME LIBRARY STAFFING

RECOMMENDED MOTION
Adopt the Resolution.

BACKGROUND
The Harrison Memorial Library Board of Trustees and the Carmel Public Library
Foundation (CPLF) want to ensure that the Library continues to be an integral part of the community, maintaining current open hours while providing a high level of free public service. The two Boards also recognize that the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea faces budget constraints that affect its ability to fully fund all City departments. Therefore, the Board of Trustees and the Carmel Public Library Foundation propose entering into a Joint Strategic Plan with the City that will ensure that their mutual goals for library funding will be met.

The following goals are outlined in the proposed Joint Strategic Plan:
• CPLF will set as its goal the responsibility to provide funds to defray more of the annual costs of library part-time staffing.

• The City will add a footnote which reflects CPLF’s contributions toward Library staff funding under the “Part-Time Assistance” line item on the Library’s Departmental Expenditures page of the City’s adopted budget.

• The City will continue to fund a core staff of eight full-time positions that are critical to running the Library. Note: if the Strategic Plan is adopted by Council, the hiring freeze currently in effect will not apply to the core staff positions.

• The Library Director will investigate the feasibility of reducing the Library’s use of on-call staff while maintaining present services and open hours.

The action steps of the plan state that:
• Beginning Fiscal Year 2011/12, CPLF will contribute 2/3 of the amount needed to offset the projected 10% reduction in part-time library staff and will contribute additional funding thereafter until a funding level of $100,000 is achieved in FY 2014/15.

• Since Library staff cutbacks (and the resulting reductions in service hours) hamper CPLF’s ability to raise funds, during this five-year plan the City’s goal will be to hold Library staff cuts to no more than one 10% reduction, and only if that is absolutely necessary.

• The City, the Library Board, and CPLF will meet at least once before the
beginning of each Carmel Public Library Foundation Annual Campaign to discuss
ways in which the City and Trustees can assist CPLF with its fundraising efforts.

• The success of the plan depends upon the Carmel Public Library Foundation’s
ability to increase contributions from the citizens of Carmel-by-the-Sea and
outlying communities. The plan will necessitate CPLF raising enough money to
continue current funding levels for Library programs and services in addition to funding Library staff. If CPLF finds itself unable to fund staff quickly enough, all parties will meet and confer with the aim of finding solutions to the problem before the City takes any action with regard to staffing levels.

STAFF REVIEW
Staff recommends entering into the Joint Strategic Plan as it will be mutually beneficial for all parties involved. The City can reduce the amount spent on the Library while allowing the Library to maintain current open hours and staffing levels, thereby eliminating a situation that could have the potential to negatively affect the Carmel Public Library Foundation’s fundraising efforts.

FISCAL IMPACT
The City can expect to realize the following revenues from the Carmel Public Library Foundation through Fiscal Year 2014/15:
• FY 2011/12: $60,000
• FY 2012/13: $90,000
• FY 2013/14: $100,000
• FY 2014/15: $100,000

SUMMARY
The success of the Joint Strategic Plan depends on the Carmel Public Library
Foundation’s continued ability to raise funds. CPLF’s five-year financial/fundraising strategy is outlined in Attachment “A”. The strategy has been structured conservatively to ensure a realistic chance of success. The Plan was created so that all three parties could participate in a partnership to further the goal of quality Library service to the citizens of Carmel-by-the-Sea and outlying communities.

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION 2011-
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA ENTERING INTO A FIVE-YEAR JOINT STRATEGIC PLAN WITH THE HARRISON MEMORIAL LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND THE CARMEL PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION WHEREBY THE CARMEL PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION WILL INCREMENTALLY ASSUME CITY COSTS UP TO $100,000 FOR PART-TIME LIBRARY STAFFING
__________________________________________________________________________
WHEREAS, the Harrison Memorial Library Board of Trustees, the Carmel Public
Library Foundation, and the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea agree that they must work in partnership to ensure that Harrison Memorial Library continues to be an important, integral and vital part of the community, providing excellent, free public library service to residents of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea and outlying communities; and

WHEREAS, the Library Board of Trustees and the Carmel Public Library Foundation acknowledge that the City faces continued budget constraints affecting its ability to fully fund the Library.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA DOES:

1. Agree to enter into the five-year Harrison Memorial Library Board of Trustees, Carmel Public Library Foundation, and City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Joint Strategic Plan.

2. Agree to implement with the Harrison Memorial Library Board of Trustees and the Carmel Public Library Foundation the goals and action steps outlined in the plan.

PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA this 4th day of January, 2011, by the following roll call vote:

AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS

SIGNED:

_______________________
SUE McCLOUD, MAYOR

ATTEST:

________________________
Heidi Burch, City Clerk

HARRISON MEMORIAL LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CARMEL PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION, AND CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA JOINT STRATEGIC PLAN

The Harrison Memorial Library Board of Trustees, the Carmel Public Library Foundation and the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea agree that they need to work together in partnership to ensure that the Harrison Memorial Library continues to be an important, integral and vital part of our community. The goal of this partnership will be to sustain the historic tradition of providing free public library service of excellent quality for the residents of the City of Carmel and the Monterey Peninsula. To achieve this goal, the parties need to develop and to agree to a strategic plan.

FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN
Acknowledge that the goal of the five-year plan is for the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea to hold steady with regard to library operations for the next five years and for the Carmel Public Library Foundation to incrementally assume the cost of the funding currently being split between the City, the Board of Trustees and CPLF, and eventually increase it to $100,000 per Fiscal Year while still maintaining the library’s quality and level of service.

To accomplish this goal:
• The Carmel Public Library Foundation will set as its goal the responsibility to provide funds to defray more of the annual costs of library part-time staffing, in addition to its current role of funding books, programs, materials and services.

• The City will add a footnote which reflects the Carmel Public Library
Foundation’s contributions toward funding part-time staffing under the “Part-
Time Assistance” line item on the Harrison Memorial Library Departmental
Expenditures page of the City’s Adopted Budget, currently page E-14. The note
will read: “The Carmel Public Library Foundation contributed $________ to this
line item. The City’s portion of this same line item is $________.”

• The City will continue to fund a core staff of eight full-time positions that are critical to running the library: Library Director, Circulation Supervisor, Local History Librarian, Youth Services Librarian, Reference Librarian, Technical Services Library Assistant and two Library Assistants.

• The Library Board will direct the Library Director to regularly investigate the feasibility of reducing the library’s use of on-call staff while still maintaining present services and open hours and to propose the steps to make that happen.

Success factor:
The success of this strategic plan depends upon the ability of the Carmel Public Library Foundation to increase its portion of the total annual expenditures for the Library. To do this it must continue to increase the contributions and support it receives not only from citizens of Carmel-by-the Sea and but also from the greater Carmel library community.

Action steps:
The Carmel Public Library Foundation needs adequate time to achieve its long-term funding goals and the implementation of all the elements in this five-year plan provides that time for a successful transition.

In Fiscal Year 2011/12 the Carmel Public Library Foundation will contribute 2/3 of the amount needed to offset the projected 10% reduction in Library staffing (with the City contributing the other 1/3). The Foundation will, beginning Fiscal Year 2012/13, contribute additional funding for Library staffing each fiscal year until the additional funding level of $100,000 per year is achieved, which will commence Fiscal Year 2014/15 (see Attachment A).

This plan will necessitate the Carmel Public Library Foundation raising enough money to continue to fund library programs, materials and services as well as library staff. Library staff funding needs cannot impact or take away from the above-mentioned programs, materials, and services. If CPLF finds itself in the position of not being able to fund staff quickly enough, the parties will meet and confer with the aim of finding solutions to the problem before the City takes any action with regard to staffing levels.

It is vital to recognize that any library staff reductions - and the resulting reductions in open hours at the Library – are a strong negative factor in the community, hampering the Carmel Public Library Foundation’s ability to raise funds. During this five-year plan, therefore, the City’s goal is to hold library staff cuts to no more than one 10% reduction (and only if that is absolutely necessary) during the time it will take CPLF to accomplish its long term strategy for providing additional funding for library staff.

The Carmel Public Library Foundation needs the full support of all the parties involved to provide assistance in its Annual Campaign fundraising activities. The Carmel Public Library Foundation, the Trustees and the City will meet at least once before the beginning of each CPLF Annual Campaign to discuss ways in which the City and the Trustees can assist the Foundation with its fund-raising efforts.

ATTACHMENTS:
A) Harrison Memorial Library Board of Trustees, Carmel Public Library Foundation, and City of Carmel Partnership and 5-Year Strategic Plan
B) Harrison Memorial Library Organization Chart
C) City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Departmental Expenditures, Harrison Memorial
Library, Fiscal Years 2010/11 – 2012/13 Harrison Memorial Library, Carmel Public Library Foundation & City of Carmel 5‐Year Strategic Plan

ATTACHMENT A
FY 2010‐2011 FY 2011‐2012 FY 2012‐2013 FY‐13‐14 FY‐14‐15
REVENUES EARNED BY HML
Library Operations $ 23,000 $ 23,000 $ 23,000
CA State Library $ 22,000 $ 22,000 $ 22,000
Friends of HML $ 15,000 $ 15,000 $ 15,000
Interest Income $ 3,000 $ 3,000 $ 3,000
HML income $ 63,000 $ 63,000 $ 63,000
REVENUES PROVIDED BY CARMEL PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION
Funds directed to HML $ 280,000 $ 280,000 $ 280,000 $ 280,000 $ 280,000
Funds directed to City of Carmel $ 27,000 $ 60,000 $ 75,000 $ 93,000 $ 100,000
total funds from CPLF $ 307,000 $ 340,000 $ 355,000 $ 373,000 $ 380,000
REVENUES PROVIDED BY CITY OF CARMEL
Salaries $ 523,817 $ 534,293 $ 544,979
Social Security $ 6,319 $ 6,509 $ 6,704
Medicare $ 11,000 $ 11,330 $ 11,670
Retirement $ 105,967 $ 113,187 $ 123,928
Medical $ 62,858 $ 64,115 $ 65,398
Life Insurance $ 1,231 $ 1,271 $ 1,309
Workers Comp $ 32,960 $ 33,950 $ 34,968
Deferred Comp $ 300 $ 300 $ 300
MOU Obligations $ 1,200 $ 1,200 $ 1,200
Unemployment $ 1,000 $ 1,000 $ 1,000
Part‐Time Assistance (Note 1) $ 166,672 $ 170,006 $ 173,405
(part‐time assistance salaries reduced with funding from CPLF & Trustees 10‐11; just CPLF 11‐12 & 12‐13) $ (27,000) $ (60,000) $ (75,000)
Salary projections before incremental CPLF funds (as seen in City's budget) $ 913,324 $ 937,161 $ 964,861
Reduction for City of Carmel Budget $ (27,000) $ (60,000) $ (75,000)
Salaries & Benefits (Note 2) $ 886,324 $ 877,161 $ 889,861
Utilities & Maintenance $ 30,000 $ 30,900 $ 31,827
City of Carmel income (combined salaries, benefits, utilities, maintenance) $ 916,324 $ 908,061 $ 921,688
TOTAL INCOME FOR HML Operations $ 1,286,324 $ 1,311,061 $ 1,339,688
NOTE 1: Projected amount part‐time salaries shown in the City of Carmel's budget does not reflect offset of funding from CPLF & Library Trustees.
This budget reflects that offset.
NOTE 2: Projected amount part‐time salaries minus the offset from CPLF & Trustees.

ATTACHMENT “B”
Library Staff Organization Chart
2010
Library Director
PT Office Assistant
Circulation Local History Reference Youth Services
Supervisor Librarian II Librarian II Librarian II
2 FT Library Tech Services 3 PT Librarian I 2 PT Library
Assistants FT Library Asst Assistants
2 PT Library
Assistants
7 On-call Library
Assistants