CEO Statement - Irymple library costs

Published on 03 February 2017

The library service review considered the direct cost drivers for operations associated with the provision of library services. In the case of the Irymple library, the main cost driver is the salaries.

Utilities and other items from the building maintenance budget are known and would be considered when we are looking at the future use of the building when and if that time comes.

The issue in front of Council is the future provision of library services. Therefore we were not including utilities and other costs because they’re part of Council’s broader building maintenance budget and not specific to the provision of the library services. The library is a tenant of the building.

The operating cost of the library is the salary for one full-time staff member who works 35 hours a week. The library is open 25 hours a week, however there are many other functions involved in keeping a library open for 25 hours and the remaining 10 hours per week are used to provide those functions.

More broadly, there would potentially be additional savings for Council by not having to support this building, and these costs are between $10,000 and $15,000 annually, however this is a separate issue, and not directly related to the cost drivers for the library. For example, the building may well be used by the community for another purpose and this is yet to be considered because we are still determining the future of the current tenant, that being the library service. The majority of these costs would remain whether the library remains open or is closed at this point.

Councillors did not receive a breakdown of the building maintenance costs as they were considering the future of the library service and not the building costs at last month’s Ordinary Council meeting.

Gerard Josè

CEO Mildura Rural City Council