Michigan: Royal Oak Library Cutting Hours, Upping Fines

From The Daily Tribune:

Library hours will be reduced starting Monday and fines for overdue books will go up as the Board of Trustees uses every trick in the book to deal with a $300,000 budget shortfall.
The Royal Oak Public Library, 222 E. 11 Mile Road, will be open four fewer hours a week for a total of 56 hours and fines are going up from 15 cents to 25 cents a day.
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Ninety percent of the library budget comes from a 1-mill tax approved in 2003. At its peak in 2008, the mill brought in $2.23 million. Following the drop in property values and rollbacks from the Headlee Amendment, the mill generates less than $2 million.

The library board is squeaking by for the fiscal year ending June 30 and will use $140,000 of its savings reserve known as the fund balance for the budget year starting July 1.

Filed under: Libraries, Public Libraries