The City of Yorkton is continuing down the path to create a municipal public library separate from the Parkland Regional Library it is currently a part of.
The process began back in June when Council, after an in-camera session on the matter, passed a resolution stating in-part; “That Council direct Administration to begin the process to leave the Parkland Regional Library system, such that the Yorkton Public Library becomes a Municipal Library under the direction of the City of Yorkton.”
The matter was again before Council Dec. 14, this time in open session where City Manager Lonnie Kaal explained, subsequent to this resolution, additional meetings were held with the executive board on the premise that some issues could be resolved with a Letter of Understanding. These meetings were not successful and the City then moved towards issuing a boundary change and public notice on Oct. 8.
The date of the public hearing was scheduled for Dec. 14.
Three written responses were read and filed at the meeting.
In favour of the City move was local MLA Greg Ottenbreit who noted “There are ongoing disagreements between the City and the PRL concerning the levy structure as well as the operations of the organization. The City of Yorkton has asked for clarification about how the levy is calculated, given the numerous grants that are also provided, but questions have gone unanswered and issues unresolved with seemingly no interest to do so ...
“The lack of process in addressing issues as well as the lack of financial accountability by the PRL Executive Committee has left the City of Yorkton with little option other than to form their own municipal library.”
On the other side of the issue was the Rural Municipality of Big Quill, who stated in a letter to the City they are “opposed to the boundary change and creation of a new Municipal Library, as this would result in an increased levy for all Parkland Regional Library members and seeing that the current levy is significant already this would have a negative impact to our ratepayers.
“The difficulties the City of Yorkton is having in regards to the Parkland Regional Library is unfortunate, but we feel there are alternative measures that could be used to deal with the discrepancies rather than all other members suffering the consequences of the proposed change.”
The Rural Municipality of Kelvington also sent a letter opposed to the City move.
“This was extremely disturbing news as our local library branch is a member of the Parkland Regional Library and this proposed change has the potential to dramatically affect our local ratepayers both in reduced services and increased financial burden.”
“In essence, those municipalities that are part of the Regional system are concerned that if Yorkton leaves, their library levies will increase,” detailed an Administrative report to Council circulated Dec. 14.
At the heart of the issue for the City is the levy paid and the lack of control that payment provides in terms of the local library.
In terms of fees, “Currently the City is paying 30 percent towards the Regional Library Costs and the Public Libraries Act, 1996 together with the Public Libraries Regulations 1996 states that no ‘one’ municipality shall be required to pay any increase in the amount of the levy paid to a Regional Library Board if that ‘one’ municipality is currently paying more than the prescribed percentage defined in the regulation which is currently 25 percent, unless the Council of that municipality agrees to do so. Yorkton capped our contribution in 2019,” detailed the Administrative Report.
“Yorkton pays over $600,000 for library services including the library levy (forwarded to the Regional library) of almost $400,000. From the information that we can garner from the Province, if Yorkton left the regional system the Provincial grants to them would decrease in addition to them losing our contribution and having to establish another reference centre. The Regional system could lose approximately $200,000 if we left.”
With those costs the City of Yorkton has no ability to determine levels of service or delivery expectations as these decisions are made by the Parkland Regional Library Board.
“Under the current structure, the City of Yorkton is unable to implement efficiencies, improve service delivery, ensure effective leadership and determine focused and priority services. The City has virtually no say in any operations,” stared the report.
On the other side of the equation the report also noted the City will face new costs if they go it alone in terms of a municipal library.
“While the exact numbers are unknown as the library funding formula is complex, it is estimated that Yorkton would have an extra $140,000 plus to subsidize the additional costs of running our own library. The major cost would be the resources (books, subscription services etc.) and the cost of SILS (Saskatchewan Integrated Library System) which provides resources from across the Province. The regional system pays $380,000 for all of the libraries in the region (including Yorkton). Thus it seems reasonable that Yorkton could provide these services on our own with the additional funding we would have by being a separate public library,” detailed the report.
As for the process the report noted, “We expect the Parkland Regional and other municipalities will not agree to us leaving given that they will lose a significant portion of their grant funding. Since Yorkton is the reference centre for the region, this would create problems for them as well in that they would need to establish a new reference centre.”
“The next steps will involve a mediation meeting between the Parkland Regional Executive Board and the City of Yorkton. The objective from the Provincial Librarians office is to get an agreement by both parties. Failing that, a proposal with respect to the transfer of assets (resource materials etc.) and liabilities from the regional system to the local system would ensue,” explained the Administrative Report.
Asked how long the process might take Kaal they are already six-months in, but it could take three-to-five years before it concludes.
