[PL-Directors] State Library Board Budget Reduction Plan

[Jim Scheppke]

Dear Directors:
In October the Legislative Fiscal Office requested all state agencies to
file plans in early November indicating how reductions could be made to
their 2009-11 biennial budgets if Oregon voters defeat the tax increases
that that have been referred to a January 26 ballot. The request was for a
plan to reduce the General Fund budget of agencies by 5% and by 10%. If the
measures do not pass, the Legislative Fiscal Office estimates that the
consequence will be a $727 million reduction in revenue this biennium,
equivalent to 5.5% of the General Fund.

The State Library Board deliberated on this request at their October 19th
Board meeting and filed a plan in November that would reduce Ready to Read
Grants to public libraries to generate the 5% and 10% savings to our General
Fund budget. A copy of the Board¹s plan is posted on the Legislative Fiscal
Office website: <http://www.leg.state.or.us/comm/lfo/>.

The State Library budget for 2009-11 includes about $3.4 million in General
Funds. General Funds are used to fund the Talking Book and Braille Services
Program, the Ready to Read Grant Program, and some personnel costs in
Library Development Services and Administration. The Board¹s plan proposes
to make the entire 10% reduction from second year of the Ready to Read Grant
Program. This would result in a 47% cut to the program funding overall.

At the request of the Oregon Library Association, we have estimated the
effect of the 10% General Fund reduction to the Ready to Read Grant Program
in 2010 on individual libraries. The attached table shows the estimated
grant your library would receive in December, 2010, assuming no budget
reductions and assuming all libraries applied and were awarded a grant next
year. The table also shows the amount of your grant assuming the 10%
reduction plan were to be put in place by the Legislature. The difference
between the two amounts is shown, as well as the percentage difference. Most
larger libraries would see a 51% reduction to their grant. Many small
libraries would see no reduction because the Oregon Revised Statutes require
grants to be no smaller than $1,000.

Also attached is an FAQ which provides more detail about the reduction plan.
Please let me know if you have any questions about this.

Jim Scheppke, State Librarian
Oregon State Library
250 Winter St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-378-4367
(fax) 503-585-8059
jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us

Go Green, Keep it on screen - think before you print.

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