City Proposes Library Cuts To Address Budget Shortfall

Staffing will be cut by up to two employees and hours of operation will be reduced at the Glenwood Public Library under a preliminary budget draft for the 2025-26 fiscal year shared with city council members last week by city administrator Mitch Kolf.

In addition to the cuts at the library, elimination of a part-time secretarial position at the Glenwood Police Department is also a possibility.

Kolf told council members the cuts are needed to address an operating shortfall in the city’s general fund budget. According to numbers shared with council members, general fund expenditures are currently projected to be $38,284 higher than general fund revenue. The shortfall is likely to be even greater after union negotiations are finalized and if pay raises are authorized for other city employees.

“We have approximately $30,000 in cuts that we need to make to just balance the budget and get to zero, and that’s before any additional commitment the city council makes with other programs, like pay raises, and we’re working on a new union contract right now with the police union,” Kolf said.

Kolf said state-imposed restrictions on property tax growth coupled with increased costs due to union negotiations and employee raises are primary factors in the general fund deficit.  For the 2025-26 fiscal year, which begins July 1, property taxes for the city’s general fund are only allowed to increase by $29,722, Kolf noted.

“These cuts are going to need to be made to address the current deficit  and the increased costs due to the new union contract and employee raises,” he said. “So, my proposed changes to address this gap will include some combination of the reducing 2.5 positions to create structural balance in our general fund budget.”

In the past, the city has usually given all city employees the same pay raise as the union contract, but that isn’t likely to be the case this year, Kolf said.

In a post-meeting interview, Kolf said cost-cutting options, other than the library and police secretary positions, were given consideration.

“Really, right now, the priorities for the city council is prioritizing financial responsibility and sustainability along with public safety, so we want to keep all of the police, firefighters and EMTs,” Kolf said.

Public safety (Police, Fire, EMS) accounts for about 54% of the city’s general fund expenditures.

Kolf said other departments are operating with minimal staff.

“Cemeteries and parks are pretty much bare bones. There’s a lot of mowing that needs to be done and we looked into the cost of contract mowing and that’s more expensive than having our own people and the city, frankly, has a lot of grass to mow – a big cemetery and a lot of parks,” he said. “The city really doesn’t have that much fluff. At the end of the day, it’s just hard decisions that had to be made.”

The library accounts for about 9 percent ($295,505) of the general fund expenditures.The library currently has 5 full-time employees and 2 part-time employees. Kolf said the executive assistant and genealogist positions would be cut under the proposal presented last week. He added that it is possible that one of the positions could be converted to part-time status .

Administration also accounts for about 9 percent of general fund expenditures ($291,365). City Hall is staffed by three full-time employees. The administration budget also includes the funding for the mayor’s salary and the stipend city council members receive for each meeting they attend.

Over the past decade, the number of employees at City Hall has fluctuated from as few as one to the current level of three. Both Kolf and Mayor Angie Winquist said all three employees are needed in the office.

“In the admin department, we’re pretty much bare bones as it is,” Kolf said. “It would be possible (to have a smaller admin staff), but the administration does everything behind the scenes that keeps all the employees happy. We’re constantly running payroll and complying with all the state reports that need to be filed, do bank reconciliations, run the budget, answer questions, helping manage the CDBG projects that are coming through.

“I realize, a lot of people don’t think the city administrative department does a lot, but probably because they just don’t understand everything that is running through the city.”
Winquist shared a similar view.

“We need three there,” she said. “Before, when I was city clerk, I was there by myself for awhile, but then had to put in quite a few (overtime) hours because you can’t get all the work done by yourself.”

Winquist said other cities Glenwood’s size have similar staffing for administrative purposes.

“We’re still running a very minimal staff so that we can do the work that we need to get done, but they put in overtime as well. It’s a very busy office,” she said.

Winquist conceded the city council’s decision last fall to raise the salary of the city administrator from just over $76,000, paid to former city administrator Amber Farnan, to $115,000 now being paid to Kolf, has probably impacted the budget.

“I know we had to increase the administrator position (salary) in order to get a skilled employee for us,” Winquist said. “I’m sure it’s having some impact because he is making substantially more than what Amber was making.”

Winquist said the cuts will require Glenwood Public Library Director Tara Painter to “get creative” in adjusting hours and services.“Yes, the library will take the brunt of the cuts, but I think it can be done,” Winquist said. “We may not be open as long and as many hours as we have been.”

Kolf and Winquist said there are other libraries in Iowa operating with fewer full-time employees than Glenwood currently has.

When asked by a city council member what impact the cuts would have on the library, Painter said it’s likely the library would have to be closed on Saturdays and at times entire departments (floors) of the library, such as the children’s wing, would have to be closed. On Fridays, when the library is staffed by only two workers, employees would not be able to take a lunch break.

She pointed out that Glenwood’s multi-level library has three service points, unlike some newer facilities that are built on one level.

“They’re going to have a new building with one big circulation desk, so you can get down to one or two people with no problem,” she said.

Winquist added she hopes the cuts won’t be permanent but noted that the future is uncertain and the city could be looking at additional cuts in the future. She said there’s been talk of the legislature getting even more restrictive on property taxes and eliminating franchise fees, which would take away about $275,000 in annual revenue for the city.

During his presentation to council members last week, Kolf pointed out that Glenwood’s overall tax rate is lower than other southwest Iowa cities of comparable size, including Harlan, Shenandoah, Atlantic, Clarinda and Red Oak. He added that Glenwood is not alone in having to make cuts and tough financial decisions as it prepares its budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

“I spoke to few a cities across the state and I would say Glenwood is not in a unique situation,” he said. “It’s a story that’s being told across the state.”

Last week’s presentation by Kolf was a preliminary step in the city’s budget process. A public hearing on the tax levy will take place at the April 8 city council meeting and a public hearing for the full budget adoption will be April 29, one day before the city’s budget must be submitted to the state and county auditor for certification.