Andrews – The Board of Aldermen approved a budget Thursday that keeps taxes and fees flat, gives town workers a pay bump, and funds a park renovation and new vehicles for the police, water and sewer departments.
However, library funding was on most people’s minds when they attended the board of aldermen’s final budget meeting Thursday. Spoiler: library funding is unchanged.
Since 2020, the town has been putting $100,000 a year into the library – $20,000 for the building, and $80,000 that the library uses to pay for staff at the Andrews branch.
In May, Mayor James Reid said he was unsure whether town taxpayers were getting a fair deal from the Nantahala Regional Library – which manages the Andrews library along with libraries in Murphy, Hayesville and Robbinsville – and said he’d like to see a $40,000 cut. He appeared to have a majority with support from Aldermen James Mclean and Ted Paul.
By last week, library funding was negotiated to a $10,000 cut favored by Reid, Mclean and Paul – or a $10,000 increase supported by Mayor Pro Tem Brandi Smith and Alderman Steve Jordan. The Nantahala Regional Library is funded by a variety of sources, including the towns, counties and the state, as well as grants.
A copy of the proposed Andrews budget showed a $20,000 cut just two days before the Thursday meeting. Reid said aldermen spent a day working out the final details last week, and all four agreed to keep funding at $80,000.
Reid said he was not surprised that Smith changed her mind.
“We do not need to lose anything else,” she responded. The Andrews Public Library does not need to scrape by, adding, “$10,000 will not break the bank.”
In the urgency to approve the budget, which needs to be in place by July 1, Town Administrator Tammy Holloway suggested the board vote on the proposed budget as presented and come back in July with a budget amendment for increased library funding.
Whether that will happen or, if it does, whether it has enough votes are unanswered questions. The board was split on the budget, with library funding being the dividing factor.
Jordan and Smith voted against the budget because of the library funding issue, with Paul and Mclean voting for it. Reid cast the tie-breaking vote to approve the budget.
More support
Library co-managers Jacqueline Hulse and Kelly Bryant have worked at the library for nearly 25 years, climbing the ladder from library assistant. They are paid $15 per hour.
During Thursday’s meeting, Hulse listed off numerous names of people who have benefited from library services who are related to members of the board.
“We matter to your families,” Hulse said, adding that she felt like it was a battle trying to prove their worth to the board.
An increase in town spending could snowball: more funding leads to more hours open. More hours open leads to more state funding for books, reference materials and all the things that make a library.
A decrease in town spending would have the opposite effect. Were the town to cut spending by the $40,000 Reid proposed in May, it would not be enough for the library to remain open, Hulse warned.
Jordan and Smith were sold. Jordan proposed adding money for Hulse and Bryant to get raises, and Smith suggested $90,000 for library funding.
“I’m torn on the library,” she said. “We really need to increase it. I don’t believe $10,000 would break us.”
Bryant said she would prefer to see the money go toward keeping the library open longer hours – restore Mondays and stay open two nights a week, she suggested.
The $80,000 approved at Thursday’s meeting keeps the town’s contribution at the current level but doesn’t take into account higher costs associated with inflation.