Could showdown be coming between township and library?
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
LOCKPORT TWP. — Three years after Park Township ended contract negotiations and declined to send township funds to the Three Rivers Public Library (TRPL), another township is gearing up for its negotiations with the library, and the concerns both sides have are somewhat similar.
On Monday, the Lockport Township Board updated its residents on the process of negotiating a new library services contract with the Three Rivers Public Library, a topic that of interest to the majority of the audience for the township’s monthly meeting.
Trustee Rick Daniels, who has been part of the negotiating team for the township, said Lockport has offered the library a fixed $20,822 a year in funding, a number that would increase by 2 percent every year of the three-year contract proposal. It would be one of two libraries the township would be sending funding to, with the other being the Nottawa Township Library, who has much the same 2 percent increases in their contract.
Treasurer Mike Friesner said having a set number in place with the library would make it easier and more predictable for the township when it comes to yearly budgeting.
“We like to put that in our budget because we like to know what that amount is,” Friesner said. “When it fluctuates so much, like in the past it has been … that fluctuates all over the place. We want to get it to a point where we can have a fixed amount.”
While the library’s Board of Trustees has not discussed Lockport’s newest proposal in an open meeting – their next regular meeting is on July 23 at 6 p.m. at the library, where the matter is expected to be discussed – representatives from the board and the City of Three Rivers in attendance appeared wary of the contract terms, as from their perspective, the 2 percent increases would not bring in enough to satisfy requirements to receive state aid.
According to Interim Library Director Erin Zabonick in a phone call Wednesday, TRPL offered Lockport Township a 3 percent increase per year in their previous offer.
City Finance Director Bobbi Schoon, who was the TRPL director during the failed Park Township contract negotiations back in 2021, said when she talked with the state, the library is “required” to have 3/10 of a mil of taxable value.
“It’s because of the type of library we are. … We have it in writing from the state,” Schoon said, while also claiming the rate of inflation over the last 20 years has averaged at 3 percent, as a way to “talk about the thought process” behind the city’s reasonings for offering that 3 percent increase per year.
Township Supervisor Mark Major disputed the library’s claims, claiming they “are not the right type” of library to have that kind of funding be a requirement, according to the township’s lawyers. He also claimed that inflation the last four years is up “21 percent,” which is “not a 3 percent average,” and affects the 3/10 of a mill.
Major did not expound on what type of library he believed TRPL was. He did not respond to a phone call Tuesday seeking clarification of his comments.
“I don’t know where the disconnect is, but when we call, they tell us that if we want to continue to get state aid, which is a portion of the funding the library gets, then we have to bring that amount in,” Schoon said during Monday’s meeting.
What are library funding requirements?
Joseph Hamlin, the Library Data and State Aid/Penal Fines Coordinator for the Library of Michigan, an entity under the state government that manages the distribution and allotment of state aid and penal fine monies to libraries across the state, said in an email Wednesday that TRPL is a City Library established under the City, Village and Township Libraries Act of 1877, a type of library formed via a city charter, ordinance or city council resolution. TRPL was formed via Three Rivers’ City Ordinances, section 2-18.
Hamlin added that all legally-established public libraries, including city libraries, are entitled to apply for and be considered for state aid eligibility. Referencing the State Aid to Libraries Act of 1977, he said in order to receive state funds, one of the requirements is that a public library must “Receive 3/10 of a mil according to current Taxable Values as determined by Michigan Department of Treasury of local support (defined as millage monies, appropriations, contract payments, donations, penal fines, and fines).” They must also comply with personnel certification requirements appropriate for their size – which in TRPL’s case is a Class 4 Library – and complete an annual report. TRPL, according to Hamlin, met the requirements for state aid for this year.
Hamlin said in his email that the Library of Michigan, in the process of reviewing state aid applications, first looks to see if the total amount of local support is equal to or greater than the total amount of 3/10 of a mil support required by the State Aid to Libraries Act for a library’s legal and contracted service areas.
If the total of income received by a library meets or exceeds the combined total of the amounts equal to 3/10 of a mil as calculated by Treasury for each of the library’s service areas, Hamlin said, the Library of Michigan considers the library to have met the requirement. 3/10 of a mil is calculated according to the percentage of the population of the municipality that is served by the library.
If the local support received doesn’t meet or exceed the 3/10 of a mil calculation for their service areas, Hamlin said, the Library of Michigan reviews each service area individually to determine which areas meet the 3/10 of a mil, and which populations do not.
“The Library of Michigan will combine populations and 3/10 of a mil requirements in order to maximize the amount of population for which the library can receive State Aid,” Hamlin said. “In other words, a library which does not meet its full 3/10 of a mil requirement can possibly still receive State Aid monies for a portion of their service area(s).”
According to the State of Michigan’s Library State Aid Computation Form, for Fiscal Year 2024 – the period from July 1, 2022 to June 20, 2023 – the 3/10 of a mill for Lockport Township that year was $19,236 for the contract population of 1,865 people. According to Daniels, the amount of the 3/10 of a mill for this fiscal year is the $20,822 amount that is the base of Lockport’s contract proposal.
Hamlin said according to state data from 2020-2022, Lockport “narrowly missed” making the 3/10 of a mil requirement by “negligible” amounts, but exceeded the requirement in 2023 and 2024. However, he added the 2 percent increases Lockport is offering in its proposal could be sufficient enough to meet the 3/10 mil requirement, albeit with one caveat.
“Assuming that the 2 percent increases keep pace with any anticipated increases in taxable value, the current proposal should cover Lockport Township[‘s] 3/10 of a mil requirement,” Hamlin said.
‘We’re not trying to get rid of the library’
Major said what Schoon was saying in regards to receiving state aid was not what they were hearing from their lawyers. Friesner said he wouldn’t dispute that point from Schoon, but questioned how Park Township was “able to get out of paying you anything.” Schoon said that was because Park Township “doesn’t owe us anything when they don’t contract with us.”
“When you choose to contract with a library of our type, that’s the minimum requirement we have to bring in as a library,” Schoon said. “If you cancel your contract, you don’t owe us anything and there’s nothing to fight over. There’s no contract.”
When Library Board member Vicki Wordelman mentioned that Park Township residents have to pay at least $50 for a library card for two people, Friesner said, “We don’t want to go there.”
Daniels said the township doesn’t want out of the library, but that they’re trying to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer money.
“We’re trying to bring fiscal responsibility to our Lockport residents. We look at our budget, and as Mark said, it went up 21 percent. We can’t keep affording 21 percent over the next years. We sat down as a board and said, what is fair?” Daniels said. “So, let’s start with the number you’re supposed to get this year. That’s the starting number. Let’s do 2 percent every year for the next two years, then we’ll talk about it again. We’re not giving chump change.”
Major said they would have to go through the process of negotiations, but that the township “does not agree” with the 3/10 of a mill language the library says they need. Daniels said the township is trying to do its best in negotiations.
“We’re not trying to get rid of the library. We just want to know that $20,822 is a pretty fair dollar amount,” Daniels said. “We believe what we did was fair, and that’s all we can ask.”
There were also several public comments during the meeting in support of the Three Rivers Public Library from local residents.
If the library and Lockport do not agree on a new contract, it would be the second township in the last three years to pull funding from the library due to a contract dispute, following Park Township in 2021.
Along with Lockport, Fabius Township is the only other township giving financial support to the library outside of the City of Three Rivers at this time.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
