By Mari Radtke
The meeting ended with digging deep into county personnel wages. Each position’s or work group wage were considered and approved for recommendations made by the Compensation Board or adjusted to meet like positions within the county.
The meeting started with a several members of O’Brien County Library Association providing an overview to the supervisors about the past year. New ideas under consideration by one or more libraries were discussed like checking out “hot spots” or hiring a children’s librarian. The supervisors seemed to like what the libraries are provided for O’Brien County citizens. They approved the $.07125 cents per $1000 of rural value levy to fund the libraries. The state mandated minimum funding levy for libraries to each county in Iowa is $.0675 cents per $1000 of rural valuation.
The current fiscal year that ends June 30, 2021 provided a total funding amount to seven libraries at $63,589.00. Because the Archer Library closed in October they received only one half of the first half allocation of library funding. Depending on when and if it reopens will determine how much second half distribution it will receive.
The total expected dollars for library funding in the 2022 fiscal year beginning July 1, 2021 increases to $68,986.00. The supervisors made no clear decisions about how it will be distributed if the Archer Library does not reopen.