Colfax Public Library could lose $18,000 in funding for 2025
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Colfax Public Library could lose $18,000 in funding for 2025 if the Village of Colfax does not pay its entire share.
The 2025 budget is “going to be a challenge,” said Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt, director of the Colfax Public Library, during the public comments portion of the Colfax Village Board’s August 26 meeting.
Bragg-Hurlburt said she wanted to give the village board “a heads up” on the situation.
In years past, Dunn County has provided 66 percent of the funding for the Colfax Public Library to account for the number of people who live in the surrounding townships and come to Colfax to use the library.
The funding provided by the county is actually a reimbursement for library services received by county residents based on the library circulation of two years prior.
State law requires counties to pay at least 70 percent of the cost of library usage for county residents who do not live in the village or city where the library is located.
Dunn County has, for many years, reimbursed the Colfax Public Library for 100 percent of the cost of county residents using the Colfax Public Library.
Dunn County also reimburses the other libraries in the county at 100 percent.
State law allows certain exemptions for the revenue limits imposed on municipalities, and the county has placed the library levy outside of the revenue limit so that the library levy is in addition to the property tax levy used to pay for other county services.
Since residents in the village of Colfax already pay for library services with their property taxes, they do not pay the county’s property tax levy to support the library.
The Colfax Public Library receives funding from Chippewa County for Chippewa County residents who use the Colfax library as well, just as Dunn County pays other counties, such as Eau Claire County or St. Croix County, for Dunn County residents who use libraries in other counties.
The problem for the 2025 budget is that while the Colfax Public Library’s circulation has increased, the number of village residents using the library also has increased, which means Dunn County will pay $18,000 less, Bragg-Hurlburt said.
In other words, the number of village residents who use the Colfax Public Library has increased over the number of people living outside the village who use the library.
While Dunn County owes $18,000 less in reimbursements for library operations, the Village of Colfax owes $18,000 more.
Smaller ask
Bragg-Hurlburt told the village board she would not be asking for the entire $18,000 but would be asking for a $6,000 increase in funding from the village.
The village has a small population, and other costs are increasing, too, she said.
The Village of Colfax is actually the largest of the villages in Dunn County. Colfax has a population of about 1,200, while Boyceville has a population of nearly 1,100 and Elk Mound now has a population of about 1,000. Downing, Knapp, Ridgeland and Wheeler have populations ranging from 200 to 500.
While Sand Creek does have a library, Sand Creek is an unincorporated village and is part of the Town of Sand Creek.
The police department is important. The Colfax Rescue Squad is important. The Colfax fire department is important, as are street repairs, Bragg-Hurlburt said.
But the Colfax Public Library also adds value to the village and helps draw people to the downtown, she said.
The library is an important resource for the community and provides information on resources available throughout the county, Bragg-Hurlburt said.
Circulation for the library has increased by 3 percent, but more village residents also have started using the library, she said.
There has been a decrease in checkouts from people living outside of the village, and an increase in checkouts from people living in the village, Bragg-Hurlburt said.
The library’s programs have been quite successful. This year, the Summer Reading program had 150 children signed up, she said.
Solutions
Bragg-Hurlburt said she knew it would be a “hardship” for the village budget to put an additional $18,000 into the library budget.
To help make up for some of the difference, the library director said she is planning to write grant applications and that the library would do community fund raising.
In addition, the library would have to cut expenses for programming and for materials but would still try to maintain continuity of service to library patrons, Bragg-Hurlburt said.
“It will be a tight year for the library with no frills,” she said.
The essential services will be maintained, Bragg-Hurlburt said.
If the library does not receive additional funding, programming and purchases will have to be reduced, and Saturday hours will have to be eliminated, she said.
2025 Budget
In 2024, the Village of Colfax contributed $61,674 to the Colfax Public Library’s budget, and Dunn County provided $98,873.
If the village board only includes a $6,000 increase in village funding for 2025 instead of the $18,000 reimbursement that it owes, the village will pay $67,331, and Dunn County will pay $80,499.
According to the library’s preliminary budget, the library is hoping to receive $8,000 in grants and donations for 2025.
The total budget would be $156,691 for 2025, compared to $162,250 for 2024, representing a decrease of $5,559.
One decrease in the budget would be for books, DVDs, magazines and newspapers in the amount of a $5,000 decrease over the 2024 budget, going from $8,000 down to $3,000.
The preliminary budget notes that $2,500 is the minimum spending allowed by state law on books, DVDs, magazines and newspapers.
The preliminary budget also shows the amount for programming cut by more than half, going from $7,000 in 2024 down to $2,500 in 2025.