When it comes to funding its library services, the City of White Rock may have booked a win.
“This is finally in our favour,” Mayor Wayne Baldwin told council attendees last month, of proposed amendments to the Fraser Valley Regional Library funding formula that would reduce how much the city pays for the services by more than $60,000 per year.
According to a report by White Rock’s director of financial services, the elimination of a “library usage adjustment” and a change in how shared-services costs are allocated have the greatest impact for White Rock.
“These shared costs were previously allocated to municipal libraries based on circulation and/or library spaces, and are now proposed to be allocated on a per capital basis,” Kurylo’s report states.
“As a result… the annual FVRL levies for some member municipalities are anticipated to increase and for others are expected to decrease. In White Rock’s case, the overall impact is projected to be a $60,600 reduction in the annual levy” – from 825,988 to $765,398, a difference of 7.34 per cent.
White Rock council voted unanimously (with Coun. Larry Robinson absent) June 24 to support the amendments.
If approved – member councils have until July 17 to submit resolutions to the FVRL indicating their position – the changes will be phased in over a two-year period.
