DATE: June 6, 2017
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Kelley Worman-Landano, Interim County Librarian
SUBJECT: Amendment to Master Schedule of Fees - Library
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Conduct first hearing to amend the County of Fresno Master Schedule of Fees, Charges, and Recovered Costs Ordinance by amending Section 1100 - Library; waive the reading of the Ordinance in its entirety, and set the second hearing for June 20, 2017;
2. Designate County Counsel to prepare a fair and adequate summary of the proposed ordinance; and
3. Direct the Clerk to the Board to post and publish the required summary in accordance with Government Code Section 25124(b)(1).
REPORT
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Approval of the recommended actions will revise existing fees in the Master Schedule of Fees, Charges, and Recovered Costs (MSF) (Section 1100) based on actual Library costs. Such fees are used for reimbursement of costs related to materials and services provided to the public.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board may direct staff to use current fees or propose alternative fees which may not recover 100% of Library costs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost with the recommended actions. It is anticipated that with the establishment of these fees, the Library will ensure 100% cost recovery for salaries, benefits, direct and indirect costs.
DISCUSSION:
MSF Section 1100 (Library), sets forth fees for requests for Library services (i.e. replacement library cards, copies, flash drives, lost/damaged library materials, etc.). The current and proposed fee rates are shown in Attachment A. The proposed fee changes have been reviewed by the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector (ACTTC) and the ACTTC concurs with the recommended actions. The last time fees were updated was in FY 2009-10.
Reasons for the recommended changes are outlined below:
Subsection 1101: Lost/Damaged Library Materials Payment
Currently the Lost/Damaged Library Materials Payment fee allows for cost recovery fees as follows: (1) the cost of item plus $3.00 for items valued up to $9.99; (2) the cost of item plus $9.00 for items valued at $10.00 or more; and (3) $18.00 for items valued at $500.00 or more.
The cost recovery fee is meant to offset costs of staff time in ordering and processing replacements for items lost or damaged by patrons. The Library completed a cost analysis and determined that the cost should be the cost of the item plus a $7.00 processing fee for all items, and that the tier fee structure should be abandoned. A standard fee streamlines processing and covers the Library’s costs.
Subsection 1103: Fee for Replacement of Library Card
Currently the fee is $1.20. The cost to replace a library card has increased due to technological updates in the type of card provided to patrons. A fee of $2.20 adequately covers the costs associated with replacing the new type of library card.
Subsection 1107: Information & Referral Training Session
There is currently a fee of $10.00 for information and referral training sessions. The Library proposes deleting this fee because it is not a service currently being provided and patrons have not requested this service. In the past, the Library had an Information & Referral Division, which is no longer operational.
Subsection 1108: Mailing Copies of Research Materials, Faxing Copies of Research Materials
The current fees for mailing and faxing copies are insufficient to cover current costs. The proposed ordinance would increase these fees based on staff time and overhead associated with providing this service.
Subsection 1109: Overdue Fines
Currently the Library does not have an approved fee for overdue fines. The Library proposes charging $.25 per day for overdue items (i.e. books, audiobooks, games, etc.).
Subsection 1110: Staff Made Copy Fee
Currently the charge is $.20 per page. The Library proposes changing this fee such that the first page is charged at $5.00, with each additional page charged at $.20, which will cover the costs associated with staff time to provide this service.
Subsection 1111: Activity Center Cleaning Charge
The Library proposes deleting this $80 per hour charge, which is for the cleaning of the Bear Mountain Activity Center. This service is no longer required to be provided by the Library for the Bear Mountain Activity Center because the Friends of the Bear Mountain Library provide this service.
Subsection 1112: PC Storage Device
a) Floppy Disk
b) Writable CD
c) Flash Drive
d) Headphones
The Library proposes eliminating services for floppy discs and writable CDs due to these devices becoming obsolete. Flash drive costs have decreased over the years and therefore the Library proposes to reduce this fee by $1.00. Headphone costs have increased so the Library proposes a $1.00 increase per headphone set to cover costs.
Subsection 1114: Staff Presentations by Community Request
The Library proposes to delete this service because staff presentations are rarely requested by the community and if they are requested, the presentation is part of normal library programming.
Subsection 1119: 3D Printing Charges
3D Printing is a new service and the Library has determined that $2.00 per hour is the appropriate fee to provide this service and cover costs.
Subsection 1120: Lost or Damaged Laptop
The Library proposes to charge the actual cost to replace or repair the laptop. This is a new fee that specifically refers to the Library’s laptops, which patrons can check out upon request.
Subsection 1121: Interlibrary Loan - Outside of Library System
Currently the library does not have an interlibrary loan fee. The Library has determined that a fee of $5.00 per item should be charged in order to cover staff time and overhead related to providing this service.
Subsection 1122: Meeting Room: Cleaning and Damage Charges
The Library currently charges no fee for use of its meeting rooms since this is part of normal Library programming. The Library proposes charging a fee to recover the actual hourly cost of cleaning a meeting room (at the rate of $60 per hour), if cleaning is necessary, with a 30 minute ($30.00) minimum assessed. A fee is also proposed to cover the actual costs to repair damage to the facility caused by users.
The proposed fee (rate) changes will take effect 30 days after the second reading if adopted by your Board. The fee changes allow the Library to continue to provide a vast array of services and ensure that the Library is able to maintain the quality of items checked out by patrons.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachment A
Ordinance
Exhibit A
On file with Clerk - Summary of Ordinance
CAO ANALYST:
Samantha Buck