BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — None of the Bradford County commission’s departments are immune from further budget cuts, but in at least one case, cuts now could cost the county down the line.
The public library budget has always presented this catch-22. Supported handsomely with the help of state grants, that support could be cut drastically or entirely if the county commission cuts too much from its own contribution.
Library Director Robert Perone explained to the board March 17 that once state funding drops, the county will never recoup it, even through increased local support.
Equalization grants from the state add to local funding to give libraries in small counties the same buying power as those in larger counties. They can provide as much as 50 cents on the local dollar in additional funding if the county spends more than the adjusted statewide average. That drops by half if the county spends less than that average, and if the county no longer qualifies for an equalization grant, the funding is phased out over several years.
“If you ever fall below that threshold for enhanced state aid, once you lose it, you can never get it back. You could turn around and spend a million dollars on library services, and you will be stuck in the 25-cent equalization rate. You will never get that 50 cents again,” Perone said.
Multicounty grants go to counties like Baker, Bradford and Union that participate in a multicounty cooperative to share the costs of providing certain program services, such as their cataloguing and circulation system. These counties are eligible for both a base grant as well as a matching grant based local county expenditures. That’s at least $250,000 plus 10 cents for every local dollar spent for the New River Cooperative.
Any county that qualifies for state aid is also eligible for an operating grant, paid for by the funds left over from the state’s equalization and multicounty grants. They can provide a match of 25 cents for every local dollar spent.
This money for library services adds up quickly, and while the total has fluctuated, the amount received for the current fiscal year was nearly $19.4 million.
“That’s one of the reasons why we have the surplus we have that we can use for emergencies. If we were to have, say, a catastrophic failure of the heating and air conditioning system, we can use that grant money to replace that whole system,” he said. “If we needed to replace carpet, we write a check out of state aid. Doesn’t cost the commission anything.”
Perone did not attempt to shield the library from budget cuts. In fact, he proposed spending cuts through attrition as several employees are retiring over the next year. By freezing two positions that will be vacant and replacing the retiring assistant director of 45 years with someone at a lower salary, they will be able to shave money from their budget, he said.
One of those frozen positions will be the bookmobile driver, whose route just began circulating again post-COVID.
Commission Chairman Chris Dougherty thanked Perone for the information.
“I don’t want to make any cuts, but it’s down to this. We just can’t afford it, period. That’ s where we are, and every department is going to be hearing the same thing,” Dougherty said.
Perone thanked the board for all its support over the years as well as the hard work of the staff, both of which made the library Business of the Year at the annual chamber of commerce banquet.
“Bradford County is known as the smallest library in the state that does the number of programs we do,” Perone said. ‘We do programs for all ages. We do ESE programs. You name it, we do it. We bring in speakers. We bring in music acts, all kinds of stuff. Glow in the dark paint programs. You think, “Oh, that’s for kids!” You’d be surprised how many adults come to those programs.”
