Library funding in jeopardy again

By Kevin O’Brien

Clark County Board members are again proposing that the county stop paying for services provided to Marathon County residents, a move that would slash funding by thousands of dollars for libraries in Abbotsford, Colby and Dorchester.

At Monday’s city council meeting in Abbotsford, library director Jenny Jochimsen called the council’s attention to a May 6 letter from county supervisor Tom Wilcox, chairman of the county’s Executive, Judicial and Legislative Committee, regarding a proposal to exclude out-of-county patrons when calculating annual payments to libraries.

Under the proposal, the county would no longer help pick up the tab for residents in western Marathon County who are most likely to use the libraries in Abbotsford, Colby and Dorchester – as it has done for the past 25 years under an agreement between the neighboring counties. If the current proposal is passed by the full board, the county would only pay for Clark County residents who do not live in a city or village with a library.

Based on the most recent circulation numbers from 2023, Jochimsen said the Abbotsford Public Library stands to lose about $30,000 in county funding if the new funding formula is adopted.

“For me, that’s a whole part-time staff member,” she told the council.

Because of its location near the county line, Abbotsford’s library actually serves more rural patrons from Marathon County than it does from Clark County, Jochimsen said. The situation is similar at the Colby Community Library and the Dorchester Public Library.

Jochimsen said she and previous library directors have been operating under a budget that includes partial Clark County funding for Marathon County patrons over the past 25 years, so if that goes away, she would likely seek more money from the city.

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“This is me kind of giving a heads up that I might be asking for more come fall,” she told the council.

Vicky Calmes, director of the Colby Community Library, told the Colby City Council Tuesday night that the CCL spent $142,237 last year to serve Marathon County patrons, who account for nearly 40 percent of the annual circulations. By comparison, the CCL spent $113,732 to serve Clark County patrons who live outside municipalities with a library.

“If over half of Colby’s reimbursement funding is lost, that will mean some pretty difficult service decisions will have to be made, which will directly affect Clark County patronage, too,” she said.

As of right now, the new funding formula is only a proposal by the Executive Committee that still needs to go through the Finance Committee and be adopted by the full county board as part of its 2026 budget process. The final vote on the budget will come in November, Jochimsen said.

Wilcox wrote that his letter was a “courtesy notification” to all municipalities and library boards in Clark County so they have time to prepare for a possible funding change as they put together their 2026 budgets this summer and fall. He also noted that the county’s budget process includes multiple opportunities for public comments at committee and county board meetings.

A similar proposal was introduced last year that would have essentially shifted county funding from libraries in Abbotsford, Colby and Dorchester to those in the middle of the county, such as Greenwood, Loyal and Neillsville, that don’t serve as many out-of-county patrons. The county board ultimately decided last fall to keep the funding formula the same for 2025 and revisit the issue this year.

In February, the Marathon County Public Library Board of Trustees turned down an invitation from Clark County representatives to meet and discuss changing the 25-year-old agreement so that the two counties could start billing each other for cross-border circulations.

Because Marathon County operates a consolidated library system that is paid for with taxes on all residents, it is not legally obligated to pay for its patrons who use Clark County libraries unless it were to first ask for payments from Clark County.

At that February meeting, Leah Giordano, director of the Marathon County Public Library (MCPL) system, said it’s clear that Marathon County residents borrow more items from Clark County libraries than vice versa, but both libraries belong to the Wisconsin Valley Library Service, and MCPL serves as the resource library for all WVLS members.

“We share things freely,” she said. “We pay handsomely for the membership for the privilege of sharing materials.”

At Monday’s council meeting, aldermen questioned Jochimsen on what options the library has for getting more funding. She said local library directors have spoken to State Rep. Karen Hurd and Sen. Jesse James about the issue, but legally, neither Clark nor Marathon county is obligated to help pay for Marathon County residents who use libraries in Clark County.

Also, because all of the libraries in both Clark and Marathon counties are all members of WVLS, Jochimsen said she is obligated to share materials freely with all of the libraries in the seven-county system, but that arrangement benefits smaller libraries like Abbotsford.

Jochimsen said Clark County could look at joining another library system, but that would be “a big undertaking.”

Like they did last year, Jochimsen said she and other library directors in the area plan to speak at public hearings in Neillsville regarding the impacts the proposal would have on their libraries.

“For us, it’s kind of a big hit if that recommendation goes through,” she said. “We won’t know for sure until November.”

Other business

■ In response to concerns raised by Ald. Roger Weideman and Mayor Jim Weix about the condition of the house at 121 N. Fifth St., city administrator Josh Soyk said he would send a letter to the owner asking what his plans are for the unoccupied building.

Mayor Weix said he recently walked around the building and could see that the foundation was caved in and there appears to be water that’s two or three feet deep, creating a drowning hazard.

“It’s an issue that needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed ASAP,” he said.

Soyk said he talked to the owner last year about the building and agreed to send a follow-up letter asking him what he plans to do to fix the safety issues. In order for the city to issue a raze order to demolish the structure, Soyk said either the owner needs to apply for one himself or the council would have to pass a resolution.

“He can come in at any point and apply for a raze permit,” he said.

■ The council voted to renew all of the city’s beer and liquor licenses for bars and stores in the city that serve or sell alcohol. Fat Boys Bar & Grill was excluded from the list of renewals until the owner pays the $7,500 in back taxes he owes.

Soyk said the owner recently paid $1,500 toward what he owes and has promised to pay off his 2022 tax debt once he reopens following an electrical fire.

Ald. Jeremiah Zeiset abstained from voting on renewing the liquor licenses.

■ The council also renewed all of the city’s tobacco licenses for the next year and its list of alcohol operators licenses. Four new licenses were also granted to Amy Froeba at Dollar General, Ava Strey at Kwik Trip, Marissa Schmitt at Abby County Market and Shelby Gutch at Dollar General. Ald. Zeiset abstained from the votes.

■ During the monthly update from the Colby-Abbotsford Police Commission, Ald. Sarah Diedrich said the department’s K-9, Hemi, broke off a titanium tooth that was implanted after he broke his regular tooth while biting his cage. Diedrich said the veterinarian had never seen a titanium tooth break off before, so the plan is to re-anchor it deeper. The tooth is still under warranty, so the cost to the department will be minimal.

■ Mayor Weix told the council that he wanted to wait to discuss a purchasing policy proposed by Central Fire and EMS chairman Larry Oehmichen until he could review an updated copy of the fire district’s bylaws. The district board plans to vote on the policy later this month.

■ The council approved a motion accepting the wastewater utility’s 2024 Compliance Maintenance Annual Report, which measures how well the city’s treatment facilities are operating. Soyk said the utility got As in all of the categories this year.