Niagara Falls Library to Receive Slim City Surplus

http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2005abc/july2005a/niagaraslim.cfm

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Posted July 15, 2005.

Niagara Falls Library to Receive Slim City Surplus

Niagara Falls Mayor Vince Anello said the city is considering applying a surplus fund of $548,000 left over from the 2004 budget to keep its public library open. “The fund balance is the only place I can go for money,” Anello told library trustees at a special July 12 meeting to look at the library’s finances before inadequate city funding would force it to close August 1. But an independent auditor warned in June that the amount is insufficient to cover emergency expenses through the rest of the year, the July 13 Niagara Gazette reported.

“We really need direction,” Trustee President Dolores Marino told city leaders. “What is it you want us to do? We are in dire straits.” The city funded the Niagara Falls Public Library at only $1 million this year, half its usual allocation, and in June residents rejected a referendum that would have financed it through a separate property tax.

Officials are also contemplating asking the New York State Library for a one-time waiver to the requirement that a library in a municipality the size of Niagara Falls must stay open a minimum of 55 hours per week. But trustees worry that reduced funding and hours would jeopardize ongoing grant money and other state aid.

One contingency plan proposed by Council Chairman Charles Walker is to use $1.4 million of the income from the Seneca Niagara Casino for the library. However, a state law limits casino revenue to funding economic development and capital improvement, not operating costs.

Posted July 15, 2005.