Jennifer Delgado, TribLocal reporter
Five more full-time positions will be cut from the Des Plaines Public Library and all employees will take a furlough day after finance committee members approved another round of 2011 budget cuts.
The newest reductions come after the library had been asked to cut an additional $150,000 from personnel expenses for the upcoming year. Employees will pay more for their medical insurance and not receive raises.
Although nine full-time positions have been cut in total, six part-time jobs will be added. Finance committee members saved the assistant director position, although they agreed to not hire anyone for the role at a previous meeting.
Library director Holly Sorenson said the position is needed because the library, not the city as in the past, is in charge of medical insurance, payroll, accounting, liability and unemployment claims.
“It’s not just paperwork or clerical,” Sorenson said at a meeting earlier this week. “If we make a mistake, we could get fined… sued.”
The head of adult services will temporarily fill the role and be paid an additional $4,000.
Under the tentative budget, 61 percent of operating expenses will go toward employee payroll and benefits. That is below the 70 percent recommended by the Illinois Library Association.
The Des Plaines library has 46 full-time and 65 part-time employees, or 72 full-time equivalent positions. Neighboring Arlington Heights, with a population of 78,000, has 148 FTE’s, while Niles, which has about 58,000 residents, employs 77 FTE’s, according to library officials.
Mount Prospect, which has 56,000 residents, and Skokie, with a population of 63,000, have 98 and 111 FTE’s.
Some committee members asked the library to cut deeper. Trustee Dion Kendrick suggested reducing salaries by 5 percent because it is an “ever-growing expense and needs to be controlled.”
But the idea was rejected after Sorenson said employees have been hit enough.
At the meeting, Kendrick proposed a new model for the budget, which would outline how much money should go to payroll, construction projects, and library savings, but was told he could not read it aloud for the public record.
Kendrick then asked if he could go to the press with his memo. Members groaned.
The board meets again Sept. 21.
jmdelgado@tribune.com
