Rockland Responds - Finkelstein Memorial Library Responds to Question on 90% of Budget Going Towards Salaries and Benefits

Hi.

As a lifelong Monsey Resident, I’d like to understand why the local library has a budget that is over 90% just going to salaries and benefits and NOT to the actual library.

Out of an $8,600,000 budget, over $8,000,000 is going to pay salaries and benefits, as you can see here from the proposed budget the library put out before the budget vote!

That’s over $80,000 per employee if they have 100 employees.

Why???

This is truly unfair to the locals who are funding this unnecessary tax burden.

A local public library should not need $8 million in payroll.

A Concerned Local

Dear Concerned Local, 

I am not sure where those numbers are coming from, but they are not accurate.  I am sharing the actual budget with you, and you can feel free to share this with your readers. 

Costs for everything have gone up significantly since the pandemic, including healthcare and minimum wage. As we are a civil service library, we are part of the New York State Insurance Program. The library has stayed under the tax cap despite inflation rates rising over 8% and currently sitting at 4.93%. We have done this through attrition, strategic cuts, and most importantly, a significant increase in grant applications. These grants fund all of the repair and improvement projects, some programs and materials and do not increase the tax burden. Grants do not fund operating costs, including staffing, however.  

On another note, Finkelstein spends less per capita than any other library in Rockland, with the exception of Rose Memorial. The increase is less than $2.00 per person.

I hope this information is helpful.

Thank you,

Laura Wolven

Director -Finkelstein Memorial Library

- - Email [email protected] to have your own question answer