The city of Cottage Grove is preparing to make several budget cuts–including to its library–in an effort to close an ongoing structural gap.
Miranda Gehrke is part of a group of community members that opposes library cuts. She said city leaders found ways to preserve other services by dipping into unused housing funds. She said they should do the same for the library.
"People really support our libraries and really want them fully functioning,” Gehrke said. “It's an important resource to a lot of people. Failing to move some of those funds toward the library is failing our community and not listening to its constituents.”
The most recent budget draft reduced library staffing to one full-time librarian. On May 19, city councilors pulled $50,000 from a hodgepodge of funds to preserve an additional part-time position in hopes that volunteers will take on other duties.
Gehrke said the library needs twice that amount, and volunteers can’t replace all the work and expertise of library staff. Her group plans to rally for library funding before the council’s 7 p.m. meeting on Wednesday at Cottage Grove City Hall.
Cottage Grove has been preparing for a tough budget cycle for a few months, after city leaders discovered years of budget errors and inaccurate numbers.
Cottage Grove City Manager Mike Sauerwein said the city needs to shrink its spending by about $500,000 to close a structural gap and stop spending down its reserves.
He said the city is making cuts across many services and programs, and may need to change the staffing model at the library to be able to continue to operate it.
"What we're hoping to be able to do is spread the money as best we can for our personnel services line item as we transition to being more dependent on volunteers,” Sauerwein said. “We're recognizing the fact that it's going to take some time to build a volunteer model within the library."
He said city leaders are also exploring long-term solutions, like creating a special library taxing district.
The full proposed budget is available now on the City of Cottage Grove’s website. Sauerwein said the budget committee has signed off on the budget, but it has not yet been approved by the full council. There will be more opportunities for discussion and review during the June 8 and June 22 city council meetings.
