The Chairperson, Nancy Eggenberger, called the meeting to order at 7:32 PM

• Present: N. Eggenberger, M. Farell, J. Fausone, S. Foster, D. Turner
• Absent: T. Hartnett
• Also Present: E. Davis, K. Gladden

Call to Audience

(H. Ahmad, D. McHugh, M. Nicholson, L. Papa, S. Sharma, N. Szczepanski) - None

Approval of Agenda

The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.

Approval of General Meeting Minutes

The minutes were approved by unanimous consent.

Communications

E. Davis shared an email received from the family that won the Super Mega Ultra badge prize for Connect Your Summer.

A flyer from the Canton Response to Hate Crime Coalition (CRHCC) was also provided for the board’s perusal.

Director’s Report

The Friends of the Library will sponsor a ribbon-cutting dedication ceremony for the Wings of Wonder butterfly garden at 6:00 PM on Monday, September 21. The families of the late Gerald Smith (husband of long time Friends bookstore volunteer Nancy Smith who passed away this year) and of Nancy Spencer (long time Friends board member who passed away three years ago) will be recognized with individual plaques memorializing the funds the families contributed toward the creation of the butterfly garden.

The final principal bond payment was hand-delivered to the township on August 20. The final October 1 interest payment is due September 1; it will appear on the 3rd Quarter Budget Amendment. The township is in the process of reconstituting the Building Authority and Davis will be meeting with them on September 2 regarding the next steps.

Davis, L. Golden and M. Nicholson will be meeting with the Canton Community Foundation on Tuesday, August 25 regarding coordination of the marketing and logistics of our endowment partnership.

The September meeting will actually be two separate meetings: the Budget Hearing at 7:30 PM at which the board will vote on a budget for 2016 and assign a millage rate, to be followed by the General Meeting.

Davis reviewed the financial reports, highlighting lines that will be adjusted in October as part of the 3rd Quarter Budget Amendment. Insurance expenses and Capital Outlay expenses are trending higher than 60%; they will fall into line as the year progresses.

Trustee Comments

Chair N. Eggenberger informed the board that the Canton Community Foundation had just awarded the proceeds of their annual golf outing to the Community Literacy Council, which holds regular conversational classes and book club meetings for non-native English speakers at the library.

Finance Committee Report

Reporting from the last Finance Committee meeting will be done as part of the 2016 budget discussion.

Unfinished Business & General Orders

Proposed 2016 Budget & 2017-2018 Projections (2nd draft)

Davis reviewed highlights of the proposed budget. The second draft changed slightly from the first draft that was shared at the July board meeting, the result of firmer estimates on revenue and expenditures.

Davis noted that the budgeted tax collection rate was arrived at after discussion with the Finance Committee, and although it is still conservative at 97%, it is less conservative than in years past. Discussion ensued re: historical budget amounts and the reduction of millage rates during hard economic times.

In response to a question from Trustee J. Fausone, Davis said that each percentage point in tax collection represented roughly $50,000 and that she recommended the conservative projection to the finance committee, which also fell in line with the auditors’ recommendation. Trustee Fausone indicated that he would like to see a budget projecting a 100% collection rate, to be offset by a lowering to 1.51 of the millage rate. He also questioned whether, as a matter of policy, staff salaries and fringe benefits should be capped as a percentage of revenue. Discussion ensued re: salary, benefits, and library materials expenditures by comparable libraries in the metro Detroit region (based on the latest state aid report).

Trustee Fausone questioned the premise for the percentage increase in the salary schedule in the proposed 2016 budget. Discussion ensued re: decisions made by previous boards to keep staff salary ranges mid-market and the mechanism to do so, in the face of state mandated minimum wage increases and multi-year wage freezes. He also asked questions regarding modelling healthcare expenses. Upon hearing the finance committee’s rationale and viewpoints, Trustee Fausone expressed his satisfaction with the overall budget.

The board discussed Trustee Fausone’s request that the board consider changing the property collection rate and millage rate in the 2016 budget, which resulted in the board directing Davis to present one budget for the board’s consideration in September, but with two millage options: the first at the proposed 97% collection rate at 1.5437 mills to support the budget as presented; the second with a 98% collection rate and the reduced millage rate necessary to support the budget as presented.

New Business

Canton Response to Hate Crimes Coalition “Not in Our Town” Resolution

S. Foster moved and M. Farell supported a motion to pass the resolution as presented.

The motion passed unanimously 15/8-20-1.

Proposed 2016 Schedule of Board Meetings and Library Closures

After discussion regarding the movement of the 2016 February meeting to February 11 and the June meeting to June 30, the board agreed to postpone voting on the calendar until the September general meeting, when Trustee T. Hartnett would also be present.

Call to Audience

None

Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 PM.