FACT SHEET

Fiscal Year: 7/1/xx - 6/30/XX

Total Revenue (2010 actual): $10.6 million.

Revenue Source:

Property Taxes - $9.6 million, 91% of total revenue.

Library Board Decides to do the Right Thing with Taxpayer Dollars 

April 18, 2011 (Original publish date 3/17/11)

By Joebookworm

Joebookworm@gmail.com

The first Library Board Meeting held in our new library was on Thursday, March 17th. I suggest that everyone take a tour of our new library and get acquainted with all that it offers.

As I followed along with the agenda, there was a discussion of ALA (American Library Association Conference plans for New Orleans in June, a Meeting Room Policy and a three year contract with Honeywell to provide mechanical and building control maintenance.

The next item was Auction Proceeds. This referred to the March 5^th auction of old library furniture and equipment. The proceeds were $32,000 less the fee to the auctioneer for $8,000 nets the library $24,000!

The estimate told us by Bob Kalnicky at the January board meeting was $2,500. The proposed auction was announced at the August board meeting with a recommendation by Bob Kalnicky that these funds be donated to a local non profit organization that helps youth and education.

I objected to this suggestion at the January board meeting on the basis that the furniture and equipment auctioned represented assets purchased with taxpayer dollars and should remain with the library to provide necessary library services or equipment on ethical and possible legal grounds.

Mr. Kalnicky downplayed the amount involved and that the proceeds represented a windfall to the library. I objected to the misuse of taxpayer funds (represented by the auction proceeds) as poor stewardship of library assets paid for with tax revenue, regardless of the amount of money which was raised by the auction. It was the principle which was ethically and possibly legally wrong.

The matter was brought to a vote by a motion by Trustee Graske to donate the proceeds to the Friends of the Library which was approved by the board. During the voting process several trustees indicated that they would prefer to vote for Trustee Kalnicky's original recommendation. The outcome, to donate the proceeds to the Friends of the Library was in this reporter's opinion still unethical and illegal.

At the board meeting of last Thursday, Peg Danhof further reviewed the past history of the discussion of possibly donating proceeds to a local non profit to help youth and education and then deciding to give the proceeds to the Friends of the Library. She then told us that the library's lawyer had directed her to place the funds raised in the auction in the library's General Fund for operating expenditures.

When I asked for further explanation, Peg Danhof told him the attorney said that to give the funds to the Friends of the Library would have violated state statutes and thus would have been illegal. A motion was then made and passed to instead place the funds in the General Fund.

The Library Board's own Ethics Policy says:

"Board members should avoid situations in which their personal interests, activities, or financial affairs are likely to be perceived in conflict with the best interests of the Fountaindale Library."

Isn't it interesting that it took so long for a planned unethical/illegal misuse of library funds to be thwarted? If this reporter had not objected -would the Board have done the right thing on it's own?

New Library

Grand Opening

March 7, 2011

A Time To Celebrate?

January 29, 2011

By Rhonda Reed-Slaughter

rhonda@thenumbercrunchers-bolingbrook.com

The new Fountaindale Public Library is scheduled to open March 7, 2011 with lots of fan fare and celebration.  At least for the 7,339 residents that voted for the new construction.

But remember, just as many residents voted against the new construction, 7,297.

On February 5, 2008, the referendum requesting that Fountaindale Public Library borrow $48.6 million to build the new library was narrowly approved by 42 votes.

Once approved, the library board moved forward with issuing $39.5 million in bonds, and began planning phase 1 in the  construction of the new Fountaindale Public Library.

The Number Crunchers reviewed the Library's FYE2008-2010 actuals, as well as the 2010/11 budget.   

Here's what we found.

REVENUE

Total revenue @ FYE 2010 was $10,586,266.  Revenue increased by $1,865,616, which was primarily due to an increase in property taxes ($1,261,704) and interest income ($525,103).

The main source of revenue for Fountaindale Public Library (FPL) comes from property taxes.  

Here's the breakdown.

PROPERTY TAXES   $9,628,145    91%

INTEREST                 660,996      6%

LEASES/MISC.           172,586      2%

STATE GRANTS           63,051

FINES                        61,488

EXPENDITURES

Total expenditures @ FYE 2010 was $24,295,735, which is $18 million more than FYE 2009.  The substantial increase was due to the construction of the new library.

The FPL expenditures are broken down into 3 categories.

CAPITAL OUTLAY  $ 16,544,118   68%

CULTURE & REC.       5,704,240   23%

BOND PYMTS            2,047,377    8%

Capital Outlay  $16,544,118

The construction of the new library represents 68% of total expenditures.

Culture & Recreation  $5,704,240

The basic operations of the library represents 20% of total expenditures.   Most of the expenditures for basic operations can be found in the General Fund, under the Culture & Recreation expense.

Bond Payments   $2,047,377

The payment of bond debt makes up 8% of total expenditures.  According to the financial report, the Library issued $39.5 million in bond debt.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The District paid $2,047,377 towards the bond debt in FYE 2010.  Ever wonder how much that payment cost taxpayers within the district?  $ 34.52 per person. 

Now  consider the $39.5 million in bond debt, plus interest.  Try calculating the total cost per person.

[ According to FPL Financials, the total population served is 59,299]

FINANCIAL RESULTS @ FYE2010

The Fountaindale Public Library (FPL) netted a $4.9 million budget deficit in FYE 2010, which can be directly attributed to the construction of the new library.

It appears the library board used reserves to cover the fund balance.

Fund Balance @ 7/1/09  

$39,760,325

Less:  FYE2010 Deficit       (4,853,950)

Fund Balance @ 6/30/10  $ 34,906,375

FYE 2010/11 BUDGET

We were surprised to see a significant increase in expenditures for FYE2011.   The following list of expenditures jumped $1.09 million since last year, and deserves a second look.

Personnel Svcs     $ 3.2 mill to

$ 3.9 mill

Library Materials    774k  to 992k

Supplies/Utilities    355k to  468k

Contractual Svcs    309k to  392k

CONCLUSION

The construction of the new library will certainly add value to the community.  However, several questions remain.   Did we really need a new library?  How about saving the taxpayers money by simply refurbishing the existing library?

It's too late to turn back the clock.  More than 14,000 residents (within the district) took part in the democratic process by voting yes or no to the referendum. 

But what happened to the estimated 30k voters (within the district) that failed to vote at all?  We will never know what their wishes are because they never bothered to vote.

Today, taxpayers will have to absorb the cost of the new library, which will not only include the bond debt, but interest on the debt, new employees, equipment, computers, books, library material, etc.

The referendum passed, the bonds were issued, and the new building is close to completion.  Game over.

According to the library board, there's a grand opening planned.  A huge celebration.  

Here's a suggestion.  If you decide to attend the event, or read about it in the local media, please take a moment to consider how much it will cost taxpayers to host the event, provide entertainment, serve food, etc. 

Remember, someone's got to pay for it, and it's on us - the taxpayer.

COMMUNITY ALERT!

DuPage Township Collector, Shares Her Thoughts on the New Fountaindale Public Library's Grand Opening

April 26, 2011

By Shirley Valevicius

ShirleyV@thenumbercrunchers-bolingbrook.com

There was more than one Grand Opening of the new Fountaindale Library in Bolingbrook.  I attended the March 25, 2011 opening which was by invitation only.

This opening included most local public officials, library Board members, and some library personnel and contributors.

It was a gala affair; everyone was formally and beautifully dressed.

The Mayor, (Roger Claar) was there as well as State Senator A. J. Wilhelmi, State Representative Emily McCasey, and County Executive Larry Walsh. 

I, (Shirley Valevicius, Collector) was among the Township elected officials, along with Bill Mayer, DuPage Township Supervisor.  Peggy Danhoff, Library Board President was a host speaker, as well as Mr. Robert Kalnicky, V.P. of the library Board.

Mr. Kalnicky introduced the public officials in attendance at the opening. After the introductions and a brief overview of the many amenities of the library, we were invited to a delicious buffet on the main floor.

The buffet consisted of hot foods such as meatballs, cold foods such as salads, fruits and pasta dishes and a lovely selection of desserts including but not limited to; petit fours, cakes, cookies and miniature cheese cakes.

A cameraman circulated in the crowd and took pictures for the libraries on-line site. He took several pictures of me and my escort Miguel. At the end of the evening each guest received a "goody" bag with information on the library and a beautiful gold bookmark.

In all, I had a great time and met some very nice people. I think we are all very fortunate to have such an updated, modern and beautiful library that we can all use and enjoy.

If anyone is interested, they can go to the Fountaindale library's site at www.fountaindale.org.

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS

Fountaindale Library Board Flunks Transparency Test 

February 23, 2011

By Joe Bookworm

Joebookworm@gmail.com

The Library board meeting was held Thursday, February 17, 2011. 

During the "comments from the public" section of the meeting, I publicly requested that the board indicate the total cost for any Action Items discussed during the meeting.  Board member, Bob Kalnicky who acted as the President in the absence of Peg Danhoff stated that it was always done and indicated that they would be stating the info that night.

After waiting thru an Executive Session in which the board left the boardroom with the library director recruiter, John Keister, the session resumed and John Keister gave an update on candidates contacted regarding the library director search.

He pointed out that candidates were impressed with the community's commitment to building the new library and also made a point that the candidates were impressed with trustee involvement with the American Library Association.

I believe he was responding to our criticism of trustee attendance at the out of state conferences of the ALA. It's interesting that all other libraries I contacted indicated that their trustees do not attend such conferences; since they consider such trips as wasteful spending in today's economy.  In fact, I just received information that the cost of three Fountaindale trustees attending the ALA conference in San Diego was $6,140.98.

With all the knowledge gained through trustee involvement in ALA conferences and committees, why can't they handle a search for a new library director without using a recruiter firm?

Moving along....I expected the board to reveal the total cost for the recruiter services, but they withheld the information.

Then there was a long presentation by Steve Larson - Capital Asset Replacement Plan. The Board seemed confused by the plan and his presentation. Again there was no information provided as to the cost of this plan and his services.

The next item was Renewal District Insurance -surely they would divulge the cost of the new insurance renewal! After a short statement by board member, Bob Kalnicky that "the cost was increasing but it was to be expected with the new building", the item was immediately moved to a vote.   The insurance renewal was approved by all trustees in attendance. We were not told the cost or the provider!

I wonder if the board ever puts the insurance out for bids which would be appropriate, to see if any savings would be possible with a change in agent and insurance provider. This flew in the face of Bob Kalnicky's indication that they always provide full disclosure of costs in reply to my opening comments.  

Honestly, I left the meeting much dismayed at the lack of information provided to the public.

Click here to add comments

Fountaindale Library Compromises on Auction Proceeds

January 25, 2011

By Joe Bookworm
Joebookworm@gmail.com

I attended the Library Board Meeting on January 20, 2011.  Questions on wasteful travel cost to out of state conferences were brushed off and the Board approved another trip to New Orleans for the Trustees in June, 2011.  Three trustees just returned from a trip to San Diego just this month at taxpayers' expense!

Questions on the proposed auction of library equipment and furniture were addressed by several trustees. 

Trustee Kalnicky downplayed the potential auction proceeds as a windfall to the library since the auction proceeds were never intended to be used as revenue and were estimated by the auctioneer to be only about $2,500.

He added further that "the amount per taxpayer is only pennies".

As a resident, and reporter, I feel that it is ethically (and possibly legally) wrong to use taxpayer dollars to prop up local non-profit charities and it indicates poor stewardship of taxpayer funds to immediately spread these new found dollars to the Trustees' favorite charities in our community instead of keeping these dollars with the Library.

What would the Trustees do if they received proceeds from an estate of a citizen who wished to donate funds to the Library?  Since these funds would be unexpected revenue, would the Board pass the proceeds on to non-library not-for-profits?

Trustee Graske (to her credit) indicated some discomfort with Trustee Kalnicky's plan and moved to donate the auction proceeds to the "Friends of the Library" as a compromise.

This motion passed with some trustees while voting for the motion, indicating that they would prefer to have followed Kalnicky's suggestion.

The Library Board seems to be out of touch with taxpayers of Bolingbrook as reflected in our poll results, which indicate 80% are against the trustees wasteful out of state travel and the sending of auction proceeds to the trustees' favorite charities. 

Library Plans to Donate Proceeds from Auction to Charity

Do you agree?

January 16, 2011

By Joe Bookworm

joebookworm@gmail.com

According to the minutes from Fountaindale Public Library's board meeting on August 19th, the trustees approved a recommendation by Trustee, Robert Kalnicky to donate the money from a proposed auction of furniture and equipment to "non-profit organizations that work with youth and education."

Is it appropriate and legal to donate the proceeds of the sale of Fountaindale Library assets purchased with taxpayer funds to other non-profit organizations?

This could amount to thousands of dollars of taxpayer funds.  Who is going to choose the organizations to receive these funds?  Would it not be more appropriate to apply these funds to the operations of the library?

Now with all the expenses the taxpayers are absorbing with the pending opening of the new library building, and in the current economy, it's time to be good stewards of library funds.

Also, the trustees should review the mission of the library:

The mission of the Fountaindale Public Library District is to serve the educational, cultural and informational needs of this diverse community by providing quality library service.  The library's collections and programs are designed to improve the quality of life of the entire community, with special attention in encouraging an interest in reading, supporting independent learning, and providing high demand materials for recreational readers.

It would appear to this reporter that the mission of the library itself is to serve youth and education.

How do you feel about it?  Take our poll.

COMING SOON:  Follow the Money - Fountaindale Public Library's 2010/11 budget, and 2010 actuals.

NEW

FOUNTAINDALE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Opens Monday, March 7, 2011