<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote">Last night I went to the Urbana City Council meeting and spoke to the Council in the public participation period about my concerns about the City Council's support for the Urbana Free Library. I delivered a MoveOn petition, which folks are still welcome to sign; when you sign the petition, it's delivered automatically to the Council and Mayor Prussing:</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">Urbana: Raise Library Levy Before Cutting Services<br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><a href="http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/urbana-raise-library?source=c.em&r_by=1135580">http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/urbana-raise-library?source=c.em&r_by=1135580</a><br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><br>There was some back-and-forth discussion between me, Mayor Prussing, and members of the City Council. I sent the letter below to the Council today as a follow-up to that discussion.</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">===<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div>
















<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt">Dear Mayor Prussing and
Urbana City Council members:</span><br></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">I wanted to follow-up on a
point from our discussion last night.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">Mayor Prussing correctly
pointed out that the city has covered some library costs in the past. </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">My understanding is that a key challenge that the library board is now facing is uncertainty over
whether the city will continue to cover some library costs that it has covered
in the past. </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">In particular, my
understanding is that it has been the historical practice that when the city
negotiated raise increases with its employees, library employees received the
same increase as other city employees, and the city covered the marginal cost
of the increase to the library in the current budget year, taking account of
the fact that the library board could not have budgeted for the increase in the
current budget year. Then, in future budget years, the library took full
responsibility for the wage increase for library employees. </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">My understanding is that some
question has been raised over whether this practice will continue for the wage
increase that the city has just negotiated with non-library employees.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">Thus, the library board is currently
faced with a very unpleasant choice. Either it must deny the library employees
the same wage increase as other city employees are receiving, departing from
past practice, or it must find new resources right now to cover the current
budget year cost of the wage increase, again departing from past practice; to
cover this cost, it will have to cut somewhere else. </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">If the city council would
clarify that it will continue in the current budget year to cover the
incremental cost to the library in the current budget year of giving library
employees the same raise as other city employees, this would substantially
address my concerns about the city’s council’s support for the library. </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span></p>

<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">If the city council is not willing to clarify
that it will continue in the current budget year to cover the incremental cost
to the library in the current budget year of giving library employees the same
raise as other city employees, then I think that raising the library levy to
allow the library to continue the practice of giving library employees the same
raise as other city employees without making cuts elsewhere should be on the
table for discussion.</span> </div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div>