Franklin Library in the red again

One of Franklin's most popular and prized buildings for residents of all ages is facing problems of its own. Their problems may be one of Mayor Olson's best kept secrets.

According to the City of Franklin proposed 2017 budget, "This is the third year in a row that the library fund operated at a deficit. With a projected end-of-2017 fund balance of around $300,000, the net expenditure level is not sustainable. The library has expressed concerns that the classification and compensation study implementation has impacted their operations more extensively."

In plain English, the city hired a company to undertake a study at a taxpayer cost of $30,000 to determine that city staff was underpaid. As a result of that study, library staff were given considerably large pay increases, even though they were not asking for them. The Library board did not budget for increases. But other city staff employees were asking for the big raises, forcing the Library board to go along with the study results.

The proposed 2017 budget stated, "The result is that the 2017 budget reflects an anticipated reduction in the fund balance of $60,271."

Is the library's problem another example of citywide problems? We already have businesses that are leaving the city creating empty vacant retail space as a result of stagnant economic development.