On April 16, representatives of the Wilton Library Association (WLA) informed the Board of Selectmen (BOS) of a projected $30,000 shortfall in the library’s operating budget for the next fiscal year.
WLA Treasurer Mike Boswood told the selectmen that would have “a real impact” on programming, and “something will have to go” if the BOS does not provide the funding.
But after the Board of Finance recently trimmed $140,000 from the selectmen’s proposed budget — and with the Annual Town Meeting budget vote now just days away — what can the selectmen realistically do about the WLA’s latest request? GOOD Morning Wilton took a deeper look at how the BOS and WLA are approaching the budget dilemma.
Background — “A Problem”
Wilton Library is not operated by the Town. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which operates under a public-private partnership agreement with the Town of Wilton. The Board of Selectmen provides an annual grant to the WLA — typically about 75% of the library’s overall budget — while the WLA must make up the remainder through fundraising, book sales, grants and other revenue.
In January, as the Town’s budget planning was just getting underway, the WLA requested $3,058,162 from the Town for FY’25 — an increase of 2.7% (roughly $87,000) over the current fiscal year. At the time, Boswood emphasized that the WLA would be stepping up its fundraising by an even greater rate of increase, 5.41%.
However, under extraordinary budget pressure across municipal departments, the BOS agreed to a 1.7% increase for the library grant — roughly $30,000 less than the library said it needs.
Boswood characterized that as “a relatively small decrease to a relatively small request,” but nonetheless “a problem” for the library.
Tough Budget Decisions
Boswood explained that, although staffing levels will not change in FY’25, salaries will increase by 5.6%. This will be due in part to salary increases, but also to the full impact of salaries for staff added during the current year.
“The money that’s raised privately does not pay for this,” Boswood told the selectmen. “So we can’t cover our anticipated costs next year, and that will mean that we will have to cut services.”
“I want you to understand that this has a real impact,” Boswood continued. “We haven’t figured out yet what has to go, but something will have to go.”
Boswood said he recognized the selectmen had “a big task” in preparing the FY’25 budget, but asked them to “reconsider” the library’s funding request in the spirit of partnership.
“I just want to emphasize, we’re not here to tell you we’ve got a problem and sort of put it all back on your table,” Boswood told the selectmen. “We are fully engaged in trying to figure things out as well, and try to come up with ways to address this gap.”
First Selectman Toni Boucher expressed praise for the library, but called the $30,000 request “a tall order” especially coming on the heels of the $140,000 in reductions to the BOS budget following the Board of Finance review.
“You all recognize the situation that we have in this really unprecedented year,” Boucher said. “We have wonderful gems in our community that also need a great deal of support. And we’re trying to balance all the needs.”
After the meeting, GMW asked Boswood if he could be more specific as to which areas of the library would be impacted. He responded that the budget gap related to “staff, building and core technology costs” and said the WLA is “currently investigating ways to deal with this.”
The selectmen briefly brainstormed possible solutions — such as a potential mid-year adjustment if BOS budget savings could be identified, or a “matching challenge” for example — but much of the discussion focused on fundraising.
Could Fundraising be the Solution?
Selectman Ross Tartell asked Boswood if fundraising dollars could fill the operating expense gap.
“The short answer is that we’re not allowed… because the public-private partnership [agreement] that we have with Town states that actually can’t happen,” he said. “Whatever we raise on the private side makes no difference whatsoever. People donate on the basis that their donations will be restricted to programs and materials.”
First Selectman Toni Boucher told GMW she was surprised by Boswood’s assertion about the partnership agreement.
GMW reviewed the partnership agreement, but did not find a restriction on the WLA’s ability to use fundraising to offset operating costs. Rather, the agreement states:
“The Town shall continue to fund the annual cost of operating WLA as it has in the past in the approximate amount of 75% of WLA’s budgeted expenses for the year for so long as the Town is able, and the need exists as determined in the sole and absolute discretion of the Town, and WLA shall continue to engage in fundraising activities as it has in the past to fund a portion of these expenses insofar as it is able.” (2013 Public-Private Partnership Agreement)
GMW reached out to Town counsel for insight, but did not get a response before this story was published.
Whether or not the partnership agreement would allow fundraising dollars to be used for operating costs, it is the WLA’s longstanding practice not to do so.
In an email exchange with GMW, Boswood clarified that “in practice” the 75% of the library budget granted by the Town is typically sufficient to cover staff, building and core technology costs, while private funding exclusively supports programming.
“Donations to the library are made on the understanding that the proceeds go towards materials and programs, not to building and staff costs,” Boswood wrote.
Selectwoman Kim Healy, who previously served as WLA treasurer, said she would “defer to the lawyers” on interpreting the partnership agreement but acknowledged the WLA’s policy of reserving fundraising dollars for programming.
“When I was [WLA treasurer], we kept the funds that were received from donors/ fundraising separate, and only used them for programs and library resources. It appears that the current policy is the same,” she wrote in an email to GMW.
“It’s Painful”
Boucher noted the BOS decision to approve less than the 2.7% increase requested by the WLA is not a reflection of the library’s importance to the Town. As she said at the April 16 meeting, the Wilton Library is “the cornerstone of the community.”
“It absolutely is beloved. Everything happens there. It’s like a hub for the community,” she later told GMW. “The bottom line is that we value our library so much, and we’ve been supporting it very generously for a long time.”
“It has been an extremely difficult year. Our residents are feeling the sharp financial pain. We have to be sensitive to this. It’s painful, it’s extremely painful. Everybody has to kind of share in the pain this year.”