Members of the Eugene Public Library Foundation are urging the Eugene City Council to increase funding for the downtown library amid budget cuts.
For over a year, the Eugene Public Library Foundation has been aware of budget cuts that the city has now implemented in light of a revenue shortfall. Since the changes have been implemented to the biennial budget, the impact on the library has become more apparent.
“It’s so dire. They not only lost staff, but they also cannot replenish the library programs, books or materials,” Dana Fleming, executive director of the Eugene Public Library Foundation said.
According to Fleming, the library represents around 3% of the city’s operating budget while absorbing 16% of the city’s total cuts. This cut removes approximately 15% of the library’s funding — roughly $2 million annually.
In addition to the $2 million annual cut, the library also received “full-time equivalent” cuts. According to Fleming, this translates to an additional $180,000 on top of general budget city budget cuts.
“It doesn’t seem fair at all,” Eugene City Councilor Emily Semple said. “I know there was a tremendous amount of work and meetings. Nobody wants to cut, but we’re not in good shape right now.”
Semple referred to the revenue shortfall that has been pressuring the city council to make cuts to many organizations, including the library.
According to Semple, some of the factors that are destabilizing the city’s budget are the Comcast franchise, Public Employees Retirement System price increases, construction costs and a cap on how much property taxes can be increased.
The cap on property taxes is one of the reasons why the Eugene Public Library Levy of 2020, itself a renewal of a 2015 levy, was in effect a temporary property tax enacted to help fund the library.
The city formerly allocated money for the EPL from the American Rescue Plan Act. However, these one-time funds have since been used.
The library levy of 2020, despite providing ~17% of the total library funds, has made some aspects of running the library more difficult. The levy demands the library be open 160 hours a week, but meeting this requirement with fewer staff than before has prompted library operators to consider changing the hours of operation.
“When you’re down around 13 to 15 staff members and you have that number of hours to fulfill by law, you have a really hard time,” Fleming said.
The library is considering staying open later during the week and only four hours on Sundays.
“We would have to figure out more things, like down the road [that would] require that we close the branch,” Fleming said when asked what would happen if they continued getting the amount of money they receive now. “That would be terrible.”
According to Semple, the city council is looking for new sources of revenue to help reinvest in the library.
“Everyone hates to cut anything from the library. The library is our jewel,” Semple said. “But at the same time we need to have our roads operable…We are looking at what is keeping us alive physically.”