It’s not bean-counting, per se, but the Barrie Public Library could be pencilled in for a value-for-money audit.
City councillors gave initial approval Wednesday night to the audit, although its scope and range have not yet been clearly defined.
Coun. Gary Harvey, chairman of the finance and responsible governance committee, said it can be done in-house, through the city’s internal audit department, and that the Municipal Act and the Libraries Act give the city authority to audit the library.
“And this is not that the library is doing anything deceitful or anything like that,” he said, “but it’s really to look at are we getting the appropriate value for the taxpayers’ monies that are going there, because we’re dealing with a $10-million budget.
"And obviously there’s been some questions in regards to the ongoing budget request.”
The library has budgeted for total 2024 expenses of $10.46 million, paid for by the $9.89-million city grant and $569,749 in other grants and fees. Last year’s nearly $9.4-million city grant was augmented by $841,183 in other fees and grants for a $10.2-million budget total.
“We’re not looking to re-audit the financial statements of the library. Those are done by Deloitte every year and that’s not the intent,” said Sarah MacGregor, Barrie’s director of internal audit. “This would be a different type of review, looking at value-for-money in terms of funding that the city is providing to the library.”
“Maybe there’s nothing there," Harvey said. "Maybe we have no concerns, but until we can get ourselves satisfied … we need to put ourselves in a good position for the 2025 budget.”
Mayor Alex Nuttall said he has concerns about a library surplus of more than $2 million accumulated from 2020-22.
“In one way or another, the money was already sitting in the bank account,” he said, “but we’re being told we don’t have any money and we’re going to cut materials and we’re going to cut services. That is a public trust piece that we need to figure out.”
There will be a reduction of $100,000 in the library materials and programs budget, and this will result in fewer library materials and longer wait times for the most popular items. The library materials and programs budget would fall to $1.3 million this year from $1.4 million from last year.
Also expected is a four to eight per cent increase in what the library calls vendor costs — library materials, books, DVDs, etc. The library is also raising the cost of non-Barrie resident membership to $100 from $75 to reflect inflation and enhanced library services. No provincial funding increase is expected.
Lauren Jessop, the library’s chief executive officer, said Thursday that as the city grows and the needs of residents increase, she welcomes the opportunity to work with the city’s internal audit team to highlight the value of the library to Barrie.
“This is a good opportunity to continue to streamline our workflows and processes, as we have been doing for the last few years,” Jessop said. “With the Hewitt community centre and library on the horizon, we are working on scaling our operations and this process will likely aid in that work.”
The Barrie Public Library had asked for another 5.53 per cent in city funding this year, or $517,923 more.
New to the library budget is to be information referral and community navigation, with a $78,387 price tag. It links vulnerable people to the most appropriate services and supports, promotes mental health and well-being during what library officials call an unprecedented mental health, addictions and food insecurity crises.
The library is looking at contracting out, to another agency, for support in helping people navigate the social services system.
But that $78,387 was removed from the library budget by councillors Jan. 24, with the expectation that the County of Simcoe will fund it.
Mina Fayez-Bahgat, the county’s general manager of social and community services, was asked about that expectation Wednesday by BarrieToday.
“We know that public library institutions interact regularly with at-risk individuals in need of a variety of social supports,” he said. “Because of this, we will be opening a competitive grant call within a week for in-library services across the county — including the City of Barrie and Orillia — to create positions like this one that support homelessness prevention and provide assistance for individuals in need of housing.”
Fayez-Bahgat said the county will not have further information to provide until the grant call has been closed and any application(s) received have been awarded.
Barrie’s library board is also being requested to work with finance and responsible governance committee members to identify three to five performance goals which reflect key strategic objectives of the city and the library board by May, and a status report by October.
Salaries and benefits this year would total $6.64 million, an increase from $6.38 million last year. This breaks down to a salary increase of $158,247, $99,591 more in benefits, for a $258,839 total. The library has 95 employees at its three branches.
The library has 12,473 new members since last year, for a total of 41,145, and also had a 52 per cent increase to in-person visits last year, compared to 2022.
The downtown library branch, on Worsley Street, was built in 1996 and is 56,200 square feet, while the Painswick branch on Dean Avenue is 15,000 sq. ft. and was built in 2011. The Holly Community Library, at 555 Essa Rd., opened in mid-2022 and is 4,500 sq. ft.
There are plans for more branches in Barrie — in community centres planned in the Hewitt's and Salem areas in the former Innisfil land, each at 15,000 sq. ft. in size.
While the value-for-money audit motion has been OK'd by the finance and responsible governance committee, it still requires approval from general committee and city council.
