Montclair Councilman Says Future Is Unclear For Library Funding

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The future is unclear for the upcoming spending plan at the Montclair Public Library. And there may be another “very difficult budget process” coming for not just the library, but for the municipality at large, a town council member says.

Talks are underway for a proposed, six-year funding agreement for the Montclair library. But library trustees are saying that no collective agreement has been struck yet – and more info is needed. Read More: Montclair Library Trustees Respond To Town's Funding Proposal

Town council member Peter Yacobellis recently offered an opinion into the matter, saying that he “doesn’t see any reason why the budget would be less than 2021's.”

Yacobellis wrote:

“At our Oct. 19 council meeting, I openly questioned the findings of the audit that the township had conducted of the library. My intent in that line of questioning was to have the auditor publicly benchmark where he saw the results from our library against others that they audit as well as how much of an expertise they had in auditing libraries in general. I specifically asked the auditor if the findings in the audit were common with other libraries or if he would consider ours an outliner. He did not consider the results of the audit to be an outlier.”

Yacobellis continued:

“Then on Monday night of this week, I made clear to staff that I want to understand how the standards and guidelines that some of my colleagues would seek to apply to library funding compare to standards and guidelines that we might have with other parties who receive discretionary funding from the township. Councilors [Robert] Russo and [Lori] Price Abrams offered their own important questions and concerns. I think standards and guidelines are vital to have in place. But I don’t think the proposed agreement specifically for the library is warranted if it isn’t consistently applied to other institutions that receive discretionary funding from the township. So while I of course respect the need for prudent financial management of all of our institutions, I'm far from convinced that this action is justified at this time.”

Yacobellis said:

“My intent is to continue to work with my colleagues, township staff, library staff, the library board and the library foundation to try to distill what are the actual facts. Critically, I'm trying to understand which documents were audited and who was interviewed in the audit as both sides do not appear to be on the same page and that concerns me a great deal. Until the entire council, not just the finance committee, can have all of its questions answered, dispel any misrepresentations and be crystal clear on the facts, the township council should not be forcing the library into a financial agreement which might result in a funding reduction.”

Yacobellis concluded:

“As of now our 2021 revenues as a township look almost as bad as our 2020 revenues, setting up for another very difficult budget process for 2022. In terms of the library budget for 2022, I don't see any reason why the budget would be less than 2021's, but am hopeful we can do much more to be able to reestablish critical hours of operation and services that the community depends on. What might have to be cut or raised to enable that level of funding is yet to be seen, and will be part of the overall deliberations we'll have as a governing body in the months ahead.”

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