SWAN Board,

Two board reps have sent in questions regarding the budget, per what was agreed at the conclusion of the December SWAN Board meeting. I have attached a Word document, and pasted those numbered questions below. If you refer to the budget posted in the December packet online and have questions, please send them to me so I can include the questions and answers for the meeting next week. I would ask if you send me the questions by Monday 5pm they can be included when I post the packet online for the Friday 1/13 meeting.

FY18 draft budget (starts on packet page 24):

https://support.swanlibraries.net/sites/default/files/meeting/2016-12-16/packet2016-12-16.pdf

1. I noticed that the Org chart does not have the Asst. Director position on it. I am interested in what things would look like with that included and hope that it would split some of the dept supervisory responsibilities from you. I know you shared that job description with us this summer, but it would be nice to see in a draft org chart when it comes to actually deciding about moving ahead with hiring.

2. I took note of the E/NE categories for the job descriptions you shared and even though FLSA standards has a court injunction, I am wondering what those starting salaries are for the non-dept managers. They were listed as E but do they meet the $47,476 threshold for new standards. I think whether or not the standards go into effect, we reclassified staff as if they did, simply because that seemed to be the fair and equitable way to give our non-manager librarians the opportunity for overtime.

3. I absolutely believe in merit raises and being competitive, but I don't know the history of the 4% merit. I know you mentioned it in the past as an incentive plan that the board voted on, so it might be good to provide an overview since we have new board members. My questions are: Is this 4% of the salary line to distribute as merit based on evaluations, so for example, someone could get more than 4% and someone could get 0% as long as it comes in at the 4% of overall salary?

4. I know that we talked about staff retention at the strategic plan retreat and the need to look at salary, benefits, other perks. If there is anything on this front that should be discussed in terms of budget planning, please share.

5. I’m wondering about SWAN’s reserves and the impact of a new server five years out.

6. Can you extend the reserve forecast out to FY22 or FY23 to capture potential costs at that point in time?

7. Also when do you think staff computers/laptops plus office equipment will need to be replaced?  Can that be reflected in the reserves forecast?

Aaron Skog
Executive Director
aaron@swanlibraries.net • (630)326-7022

*Please note my new email address and phone number*
*Our new business address as of December 12, 2016*

SWAN Library Services
800 Quail Ridge Drive, Westmont, IL 60559
swanlibraries.net • catalog.swanlibraries.net