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What is State Aid for public libraries?
• Since the 1960s, the NJ Legislature has appropriated funds to support a Per Capita Library Aid program
• Administered by NJ State Library• Municipalities and counties annually submit an
application• Libraries annually submit a report in the form of an online
survey, a Certification and other supporting documentation as needed
Eligibility for State Aid – Compliance with Laws and Regulations
• The municipality must be in compliance with all laws governing the library such as minimum funding for county and municipal libraries
• The library must be in compliance with all laws governing the type of library (association, county or municipal)
• Municipal and county libraries must comply with laws that cover government entities such as purchasing, auditing, investing and hiring practices.
Eligibility for State Aid – Meeting Minimum Service Requirements
• Minimum requirements based on decennial Census population served must be met for numbers of professional and other staff, operating hours, collections, and various public service areas (N.J.A.C. 15:21-2.3)
• If not met, State Aid is reduced• Exceptions may be made through petition to the State
Librarian.
Calculation of State Aid
• The amount of tax support in relation to the prior year’s equalized valuation establishes the aid category; the greater the funding relative to prior year’s equalized valuation, the greater the aid category
• 5 aid categories – from $ .50 to $1.50 per capita• The Decennial Census is used in the formula to calculate
payments
Calculation of State Aid (continued)
• Each minimum is related to the population served. For example, libraries serving 7,500 people must have at a minimum:
• A director who holds a NJ Professional Librarian Certificate and works at least 35 hours per week
• 8,000 volumes• 1/10 volume purchased per capita per year• 30 open hours per week (offered over 5 days, three
evenings, and including some weekend hours)
Calculation of State Aid (continued)
The staff requirement increases by one for eachadditional 4,000 people; libraries serving over 7,500 must have a professional director working at least 35 hours per week and have an additional 35 professional hours for each added 10,000 up to 50,000 population, and then an additional 35 professional hours for each 20,000 people.
Overview
The vast majority of public libraries file the annual New Jersey Public Library survey and meet all requirements of Per Capita State Aid. – Some libraries fail to meet criteria and this results in a
percentage loss of aid of either 50% or 100% depending upon which item is failed.
– Failure to file a report or failure to attend at least 7 hours of trustee training per year causes a 100% loss of aid as is not employing a full-time (35 hours per week) professional librarian when serving a population of 7,500 or more.
State Appropriation
• The last State fiscal year in which sufficient funds were appropriated for the program was in FY 1990.
• In FY 2009, the amount was reduced to $7,973,000 and reduced again in FY2010 to $7,176,000.
• In FY 2011, the amount was reduced to $3,639,240.
Use of PCSA Funds
• Library boards have great flexibility in determining the use of state aid funds. Funds have been used for projects as diverse as the purchase of property for a new building to the automating of a library's card catalog. Over the past few years, state aid funds have been spent in roughly the following pattern:
• 40% on staff salaries, wages, or benefits• 43% on library materials• 13% on library operating expenses• 4% on library capital projects
PCSA TimelineJanuary Libraries receive electronic notification
from NJSL regarding the availability of the Counting Opinions survey (PLS+PCSA)
Application is transmitted to municipality/county; municipality/county mails the original completed form to NJSL and a copy to the library; library staff enter the data in the survey
MarchLegal cutoff date for application
AprilCutoff date for automatic extension
August-September Letters regarding expected PCSA award and any potential failures are emailed to library. Libraries may submit “Request for Exception” after notification of potential failure. Libraries receive notification regarding “Request for Exception” from NJSL
October Electronic notification that PCSA check has been mailed (to municipality or library) – be sure to follow up with NJSL if not received in a timely mannerElectronic notification regarding posting on NJSL webpage of the equalized valuation and operating budget required to meet the 1/3 mill minimum required by law (municipal libraries only)
PCSA FLOW CHARTMinimum Standards
Complies fully with all laws7 hours per year of trustee trainingStaff hours including one full time employee as variously definedNJSPL certified staff for populations over 7,500MaterialsHours, days, evenings of serviceInterlibrary loanChildren’s programmingLibrary webpage linked to NJSL databasesStaff training
Governance
Library formed according to the laws governing municipal, county or association libraries
Fails standard/s
Eligible to receivePCSA in full or in proportion to requirements met.
Qualifies
Not eligible for per capita state aid grant.
Applies for waiver
Granted waiver
Does not qualify to apply
Denied waiver
Meets Standards
START HERE
Library submits annual survey and certification sheet and municipality submits application to NJSL
Accuracy Certification
PCSA Municipal Application
Annual Survey
• 4 purposes – Ascertain compliance with PCSA requirements – Fulfill the requirement of providing statistics to IMLS – Provide statistics for planning, reporting, research, evaluation
and legislative and management decisions– Fulfills N.J.S.A. 18A:74-11 requiring that each library receiving
PCSA provide an annual report to the State Librarian
• What does the survey collect?• Why should the survey be as accurate as possible?• What does IMLS have to do with it?
Annual Survey URL
• http://njsl.countingopinions.com • Enter your UserID and Password• If you need your UserID and Password please contact
me.
Go to CO website
Go to PCSA on NJSL website
PCSA Application Instructions• Line 2. (Applicable to municipalities only): Enter the
expenditures made directly to the municipal, joint or association library board, or placed into a reserve account for the exclusive use of the library board during the Survey Year.
• Line 3. (Applicable to municipalities paying county library dedicated tax and counties only): Municipalities should enter the county library dedicated tax as it appears in the county Abstract of Ratables for the Survey Year unless that amount was changed by added, omitted, or rollback taxes during the Survey Year.
Counties should include the expenditures made directly to the library commission, or placed into a reserve account for the exclusive use of the library commission. Report all added and omitted taxes received in the Survey Year for expenditure to the library commission on this line, not on line 4.
PCSA Application Instructions• Line 4. (Applicable to both municipalities and counties): Enter here
the amount spent in the Survey Year for library operations in addition to the sums appropriated in the municipal budget or the county library dedicated tax: for example, funds spent for the payment of library fringe benefits, insurance, building maintenance, utilities, etc. These costs paid on behalf of the library by the municipality or county must be supported by expenditure documents (invoices, contracts, payroll records, etc.). Attach an itemized statement detailing the additional expenditures. The library director, a member of the library board of trustees or county library commission, and the chief municipal financial officer or county finance officer, must sign this statement.
• Line 7. Enter here any state aid balances held and unspent as of December 31 of the Survey Year that have been held for more than two years. Please note that this amount cannot be greater than the amount reported on Line 6. “N/A” may be reported if the municipality/county does not hold PCSA funding for the library.
PCSA Application Instructions
• Line 9. (Optional) Enter here capital expenditures for library purposes. Capital expenditures are not reported on any other line. This information will be used by the State Library for informational purposes only.
• http://ldb.njstatelib.org/state_aid
Calculating Municipal Expenditure
• Expenditure = EqVal x 1/3 mill• Prior year Equalized Valuation =
$921,534,000• 1/3 mill = 0.000333333• Minimum level of support = $307,178• Spreadsheets located at
http://ldb.njstatelib.org/State_Aid
Calculating PCSA
• Step 1 Rate determination– $0.50 to $1.50 as determined the formula:
Expenditures/Equalized Valuation= Rate– If Expenditure = $340,000 and EqVal = $700,000,000 then Rate
= 0.00048571 which is equals a $1.25 Rate
Calculating PCSA (continued)
Rates: Each municipality or county that supports, in whole or in part, library service from municipal or county tax sources pursuant to chapter 33 or 54 of Title 40 of the Revised Statutes shall qualify for one of the following:
• $0.50 per capita if its annual expenditure for library services is less than 1/5 mill per dollar upon the equalized valuation.
• $0.75 per capita if its annual expenditure for library services is equal to or more than 1/5 mill, but less than 1/4 mill per dollar upon equalized valuation.
• $1.00 per capita if its annual expenditure for library services is equal to or more than 1/4 mill, but less than 1/3 mill per dollar upon equalized valuation.
• $1.25 per capita if its annual expenditure for library services is equal to or more than 1/3 mill, but less than 1/2 mill per dollar upon equalized valuation.
• $1.50 per capita if its annual expenditure for library services is equal to or more than 1/2 mill per dollar upon equalized valuation.
Calculating PCSA (continued)
• Step 2. Unadjusted PCSA = Rate determination X population (decennial census). – Unadjusted PCSA = 1.25 x 10,000 = $12,500.
• Step 3. Adjusted PCSA = Unadjusted PCSA minus prorated reductions and/or deductions. – Current proration factor is approximately .368– Adjusted PCSA = $12,500 x .368 = $4,600
Calculating PCSA (continued)
Reduction/Prorating of aid for failure to meet minimum requirements
N.J.A.C. Covers Loss
15:21-2.2 Board or Commission 100%
15:21-2.3 1/3 Mill, Trustee training, Certified Librarians 100%,50%
15:21-2.4 Employees 50%
15:21-2.5 Materials – Basic book collectionMaterials – Annual purchasesMaterials – PeriodicalsMaterials – Free public Internet access
50%50%50%50%
15:21-2.6 Service – HoursService – Weekends and eveningsService – Professional and staff training
50%50%50%
Follow-up Resources• NJ Statutes and Regulations pertaining to libraries at
http://ldb.njstatelib.org/Library_Law
• NJ State Library consultants
http://ldb.njstatelib.org/staff_contacts
• NJ Library Association webpage
http://www.njla.org
• Pat Tumulty
