UPDATING FLORIDAS STATE AID PROGRAM

1
UPDATING FLORIDAS STATE AID PROGRAM

• Analysis and Recommendations
• 2005

2
Contents

• Introduction
• State Aid Today
• Issues
• Recommendations
• Next Steps

3
Introduction

• A review of the State Aid program was initiated
  by the State Librarian in response to requests
  from the library community.

4
Task Force Members

• Wendy Breeden, Lake County Library System
• Mary A. Brown, Pinellas Public Library
  Cooperative
• Eugene Fischer, West Florida Regional Library
• Danny Hales, Suwannee River Regional Library
• Sol Hirsch, Alachua County Library District
• Ed Kilroy, Osceola County Library System
• Mike Knievel, Volusia County Public Library
• Rita Maupin, Calhoun County Public Library
• Bob Melanson, Winter Park Public Library
• Raymond Santiago, Miami-Dade Public Library
  System
• Julie Sieg, Marion County Public Library System
• Joe Stines, Hillsborough Public Library
  Cooperative

5
Introduction

• Review Process
• Task Force
• State Library and Archives Staff
• April to September 2005
• 3 meetings and 2 conference calls
• Public Library Directors Meeting, Oct. 2005 -
  presentation and discussion

6
Part I State Aid Today
7
State Aid Today

• Incentive program
• Grants based on local money spent on library
  services
• Encourages local support for public library
  service

8
State Aid Today

• State Aid Recipients - 67 counties and 18
  municipalities
• FY 2005-06 Appropriation - 31,849,233

9
State Aid Today

• Funding Overview
• FY 2005-06 31.849 million
• FY 2004-05 31.849 million
• FY 2003-04 31.849 million
• FY 2002-03 32.4 million
• FY 2001-02 32.4 million
• FY 2000-01 31.4 million

10
State Aid Today

• Operating Grants
• Equalization Grants
• Multicounty Grants

11
Declining Operating Grants
12
Operating Grants

• Available to qualified county and municipal
  public libraries
• More libraries eligible than in past
• Legislature can provide up to 25 cents for each
  local dollar spent
• FY 2000-01 - 10 cents provided for each dollar
  spent
• FY 2005-06 - 5 cents provided for each dollar
  spent

13
Operating Grants

• Calculated after the Equalization and Multicounty
  Grants are determined using the remaining funds
  prorated
• Distributed to all participating libraries
• Decreasing as libraries qualify for more
  Equalization funding

14
Equalization Grants

• Available only to counties
• (1) that qualify for Operating Grants
• and
• (2) have limited tax resources

15
Equalization Grants

• Calculated first
• Fully funded - not prorated
• Based on three factors
• Fiscal Capacity (eligibility)
• Need (eligibility)
• Local Effort (amount of grant)
• Increase as local expenditures increase

16
Equalization Factor 1--Fiscal Capacity

• Considers a countys ability to fund public
  services
• Based on the value of a mill - after adjustments
  are made
• Must rank among the lower 34 counties
• Note A mill is 1 tax for each 1,000 of
  property value.

17
Equalization Factor 2 -- Need

• Countys per capita expenditures for library
  service must be below the statewide average

18
Equalization Factor 3 --Local Effort

• Reward for counties that spend a higher
  proportion of their limited resources for public
  library service
• Receive a match of 50 cents on the dollar if
  they spend more than statewide average
• Receive a match of 25 cents on the dollar if
  they spend less than statewide average

19
Multicounty Grants

• Provide funding support for rural counties with
  low tax bases and limited resources
• Enable counties to share resources
• Currently there are nine multicounty public
  library systems with two to four counties each

20
Multicounty Grants

• Fully funded not prorated
• Provide a match on local expenditures up to 1
  million based on the number of participating
  counties
• Three-county systems also receive a base grant of
  250,000
• Two-county systems do not receive a base grant

21
Part II The Issues
22
Guiding Principles

• Continue to tie State Aid to local funding
• State Aid is important to libraries with limited
  financial resources
• Changes should not undermine Equalization and
  Multicounty Grants

23
Guiding Principles

• Changes should not decrease grants for any
  library as long as local expenditures remain the
  same
• Grants benefit different libraries in different
  ways
• Stagnant State Aid appropriations and rapid
  population growth have created funding shortages
  for some counties

24
Major Issues

• Operating Grants do not need modification
• Equalization Multicounty Grants need to be
  strengthened
• The balance among the three grant programs must
  be restored to reverse the continued decrease in
  Operating Grants

25
Equalization Grant Issues

• The need factor requires further review
• Libraries that no longer qualify for Equalization
  Grant need time to prepare to operate without it
• Counties with ample resources may still qualify

26
Multicounty Grant Issues

• Continue incentives to encourage larger
  multicounty library systems
• Continue match on local expenditures
• Add a base grant for two-county systems
• Increase base grant for systems with three or
  more counties

27
Part III Recommendations
28
Recommendations

• No change for Operating Grants
• Equalization and Multicounty Grants provide
  much-needed support to low-wealth counties
• Keep the current fiscal capacity criterion for
  Equalization Grants

29
Recommendations

• 4. Replace the current need factor with one of
  two factors
• Operating millage subject to the 10-mill cap when
  compared to statewide average
• or
• Per capita income equal to or below the statewide
  average

30
Recommendations

• 5. Add a three-year phase out for a county that
  no longer qualifies for an Equalization Grant

31
Recommendations

• 6. County cannot reenter the Equalization Grant
  program once it fails to meet the qualification
  requirements

32
Recommendations

• 7. Limit the amount available to fund
  Equalization Grants to no more than 15 percent of
  the total appropriation
• 8. Limit a countys Equalization Grant to no more
  than 10 percent of the amount available to fund
  Equalization

33
Recommendations

• 9. Multicounty library systems must include at
  least one county that qualifies for an
  Equalization Grant
• 10.Provide a 50,000 base grant for
  two-county multicounty library systems as soon
  as the legislation passes

34
Recommendations

• 11. Increase the base grant for multicounty
  libraries with three or more counties to 350,000
  when the appropriation is at least 32,804,710,
  which is three percent more than the FY 2005-06
  appropriation

35
Recommendations

• 12. Eliminate current language that allows an
  increase in the base grant for multicounty
  libraries based on the cost of living
• 13. Keep the current match on local expenditures
  for multicounty libraries

36
Recommendations

• 14. Do not prorate Multicounty Grants
• 15. Freeze the amount available to fund
  Equalization at 7,090,792 (FY 2005-06 amount)
  until State Aid reaches at least 47,272,000 (15
  percent of the appropriation for Equalization)

37
Next Steps

• Changes to the State Aid grant program require
  action by the Florida Legislature
• Recommended changes may go forward for
  consideration in 2007
• Approved changes would become effective for FY
  2007-08