By PAULENE POPARAD

The Westchester Public Library Board on Thursday approved a tentative 2008 budget based in part on 2006 numbers.

That’s because Indiana state tax officials have yet to approve the library’s 2007 budget, and Porter County hasn’t sent out this year’s property tax bills to give an indication what might be collected this year.

The 2008 spending plan, which will be the subject of a future public hearing, anticipates the same level of service at WPL facilities, no major projects or acquisitions, and a continuation of a review of future space needs but no overt moves to that end, according the WPL director Phil Baugher.

The budget sets the operating fund at $2,515,696 and a capital projects fund of $308,754. WPL currently has on hand $3,621,491 in all funds with most of that invested in the event the Library Board proceeds with a future modernization/expansion program.

Baugher said he reduced Westchester Township’s 2006 assessed valuation of $1.68 billion to $1.5 billion for 2008 after Mittal Steel, the largest taxpayer, recently negotiated a settlement to resolve pending tax appeals with Porter County.

As for next year’s budget request, Baugher said, “It’s all published very high and we’ll let (the state) cut us back.” Said board member Claire Jolie, “If you go low, you lose.” Baugher said if cuts are ordered, money would be taken from a proposed $501,796 transfer to the Library Improvement Reserve Fund.

Board President Karen Nash commended Baugher for developing a 2008 budget on time. “We appreciate your expertise and ability to navigate those waters. It’s not easy.”

The meeting began with gifts of appreciation for former WPL board member Sue Harris, who resigned earlier this year after moving out of Westchester Township. Jolie was appointed to complete the remaining three years on Harris’ most recent term.

Harris served from 1994 to 2007. “Thanks for being on the board,” said fellow veteran member Rick Hokanson. Moved by the tributes, “It was fun. I loved it,” said an emotional Harris.

During his report Baugher said Thomas Library may face a costly repair or replacement of one of its large cooling compressors; he is getting a second opinion and additional estimates. He also said Lynn McGrath is helping prepare specifications for the planned recarpeting of the libraries, a major undertaking tentatively set for November.

WPL circulation in June increased at both Thomas and Hageman libraries buoyed by numerous participants in the popular summer reading programs. Year-to-date, however, WPL overall circulation is down by 1.9 percent with 189,815 items circulated compared to 2006.

The library system also tracks each time a patron is provided with a service by WPL as a public service unit. Through June, PSUs increased by 20 percent over that month in 2006 and by 13 percent year-to-date. The largest increases came in meeting room attendance, reference questions answered at the library’s Westchester Township Museum, and non-resident circulations and adult computer use at Hageman Library in Porter.

Through June, WPL’s web page had 91,730 visits. At Thomas Library, use of the wireless access manager there has jumped by 27 percent.

Posted 7/13/2007