WCPL: Upcoming budget puts department in 'survival mode'

Washington County residents have voiced concerns on the Washington County Public Library's upcoming fiscal year budget, the department's exclusion in salary increases and transparency on the budget process. During the budget committee's meeting on May 28, community members spoke to officials about the importance of the library, and its employees have to patrons. "Strong libraries help create informed citizens, stronger students and more connected communities," Washington County resident Kathy Carr said. "When library funding falls short it not only impacts the community members who depend on these services, but also the hard-working staff who provide them." The WCPL original budget request for the 2027 fiscal year was a 17% increase from the current fiscal year. A revised budget was submitted by the Washington County Library Board which showed an 11% increase. Washington County Library Director Laura Moree said the 11% increase was a recommendation by Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy. At the May 14 budget committee meeting, Moree presented the revised budget to officials. The committee approved a $1,025,000 budget — 3% increase from the current fiscal year. The original request with a 17% increase was largely due to utility costs for the new Gray library branch. Moree said the costs of utilities are unknown and under the guidance of the county, she estimated the costs by doubling the utility costs from the old Gray Library. During the May 28 committee meeting, Washington County Library Board Chair Laurie Levknecht told officials the budget approved by the committee would put WCPL in "survival mode" for FY27. "Basically, this is a flat budget for us when you consider the cost of living and the cost of goods and services," she said. The revised budget reflects cuts to furniture and fixtures, data processing, professional development, books and materials and other supply line items. Levknecht, along with community members, expressed frustration with the budget process and the lack of transparency between WCPL and its primary funding body. "We get dates saying that your budget needs to be submitted by [this date] and then we see that the budget committee has set a variety of meetings, but then we don't know when's our turn," she said. "And [we] don't hear much about that until, kind of late in the process." Washington County Finance and Administration Director Mitch Meredith is responsible for putting together all budget requests for the budget committee and the full commission, but the committee is responsible for the overall process. Grandy said during the May 28 meeting while the public has brought up real concerns, he feels the support the commission has given WCPL is downplayed. "This commission has added money to libraries every single year," Grandy said. "I think it's a little disingenuous to insinuate to your patrons that this commission is not in favor of libraries or reading or books or the growth of them." Levknecht's response questions the commission's decision to renovate a new, bigger library in Gray without providing additional funding for the growth of services. Levknecht also said WCPL and the Washington County Library Board had no knowledge on the committee's approval of an almost 7% salary increase for all county departments. The committee's approval does not include WCPL employees. She said any salary increases the board chooses to approve would come out of the library's FY27 budget. At the beginning of the budget process earlier this year, Grandy requested for all county departments to submit a budget request reflecting a 0% increase in salaries. Mitch Meredith said it is possible the committee was under the impression the budget request submitted by Moree included salary increases, despite Grandy's request as well as no mention of salary increases within the original request submitted by Moree. The Johnson City Press reached out to members of the budget committee but did not hear back by press time. Moree, Levknecht and other members of the board hope to create a better relationship with the full commission and the budget committee for future fiscal year budget processes. "We all, I think, ultimately we want to see the success of the libraries," Moree said. "We will continue to work on this and we will have a much better understanding year to year." The Washington County Library Board will meet in a special called meeting to discuss the budget approved by the committee for FY27 on Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Gray Library branch. All approvals made by the budget committee must still be approved by the full commission.