In attendance were Vince Volpe, President, presiding; and Keith Savage, Vice President; and John Dubinsky. Nina North-Murphy and Tom Schlafly attended virtually.
Also present were Chief Executive Officer Waller McGuire and staff members, Maryann Brickey, Tiffany Davis, Jon Drakesmith, Cathy Heimberger, Justin Struttmann, Liz Reeves, and Jen Wiese.
The meeting was called to order at 5:35 p.m. by President Volpe.
Minutes:
Mr. Schlafly's motion, seconded by Mr. Savage, to approve the minutes of the November 4, 2024 meeting was approved.
There was no public comment.
Communications:
Mr. McGuire summarized the email exchange he had with a reporter over a public statement made from City Hall that the City employees had been "thrown for a loop" when the Library closed due to snow and ice on January 5th and 6th because they were depending on the Library to function as a "warming center." The exchange detailed how and why the Library makes that difficult decision, and how Mr. McGuire had informed City government as soon as the decision was made: a day in advance.
Chief Executive Officer's Report:
Three monthly reports were included in Board materials. Mr. McGuire specifically noted the graduation ceremony, led by President Volpe. for the most recent graduates of the Library's Excel High School program; the November staging at Central Library of the Live at SLPL performance of the Nutcracker for an excited crowd of children and caregivers; and December's St. Louis Public Library Film Festival, presenting awards for innovative films created by SLPL customers using the sophisticated classwork and equipment in our Creative Experience.
Mr. Slattery presented the Library's financial reports and gave a detailed report since the Board had not met since November.
Cash and Investments: The Library ended December 2024 with $34.6M of total cash and investments. The "reserves" held at UMB, Commerce and MOSIP are $1.3M higher than December 2023 and the Working Capital at Bank of America and USBank are about $800k lower than last year. This decrease in working capital is attributable to the higher operating budget and the ramp up of capital expenses in the last half of calendar year 2024.
Revenue: The Library's biggest distribution of the year from the City is in December. Fortunately the Real Estate Property Tax, Personal Property Tax and Surtax revenue for December 2024 was $17.3M, which was $890k higher than December 2023. For the 1st three months of the year, total Tax Revenue is $876k higher than last fiscal year, and we are still awaiting the Machinery and Equipment Tax this year. Despite the Federal Reserve
interest rate cuts the past 4 months, the Library's Interest Income is $19k higher than last year. That is a result of more money invested through the Reserves but also some better cash management this year than the start of last fiscal year when I was more conservative prior to the December tax payments. Total YTD Revenue is $1.05M higher than last year.
The Library is only three months into the new fiscal year (25%) and there are no concerns yet regarding any budget line items. Operating expenses are currently running at 22.6% of the annual budget. With the continued construction activity at Carpenter, Schlafly and Buder, the Library's Construction in Progress expenditures this year are $421k higher than YTD last year, but we budgeted for this increase.
The Library budgeted for the new Part Time retirement plan to begin at the beginning of the fiscal year. The new PT plan has not happened yet and each payroll cycle is costing the Library between $3500 and $4000 extra pension expenses. Additionally, Mr. Slattery is monitoring the City's Pension site to obtain a copy of their new actuary report which provides insights into what the future member contribution rates will be. It has historically been published each January.
Mr. Struttmann reported on the Library's attempts to get final approvals for the retirement system plan, which benefits part time employees and has been approved by the City's Retirement System and the Library's benefits provider. It needs the approval of the City's Deferred Compensation Committee (DCC), which he has been working on since July 2024. The Library has enlisted the assistance of Board members and Lashly & Baer in communicating with the DCC, and will report again next month.
The Board asked about the next meeting of the Fiscal Affairs Committee. Mr. Slattery responded that the Auditors will need to meet with the Committee in March for the audit process.
Jen Wiese summarized the HR report and said that recruitment and hiring strong candidates for open positions was going well. Ms. Wiese reported on the resolution of the contractual negotiation between Anthem and Mercy that had affected Library employees.
Liz Reeves summarized the Foundation Report which includes increased support from the Saigh Foundation and new participation from Spire.
- Cathy Heimberger reported on the Library's "marketing scorecard," which summarizes how marketing work is tracked and evaluated, and some of the very detailed information that is used to make certain information is getting to Library customers in efficient and effective ways.
Mr. McGuire reported on the resignation of the Director of Neighborhood Services, a busy and key position in Library administration, which had been ably held by Liz McArthur. The Library will begin an immediate search for that opening., as well as the Manager of Training, another excellent employee who we suspect was driven back to her native California by the recent weather.
Mr. Dubinsky's motion and Mr. Schlafly's second that the Board go into Executive Session to discuss individually identifiable personnel records was unanimously approved at 6:10 p.m.
The Board came out of Executive Session at 6:30.
Adjournment
Mr. Schlafly's motion, seconded by Mr. Dubinsky, that the meeting be adjourned was unanimously approved, and the meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m..
At the regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Public Library on February 3, 2025, the following actions were taken:
| Mr. Schlafly moved: |
that the Board approve the minutes of the November 4, 2024 meeting. MOTION APPROVED (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Ms. North-Murphy, and Mr. Schlafly.) |
| Mr. Dubinsky moved: |
that the Board go into Executive Session to discuss individually identifiable personnel records. MOTION APPROVED (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Ms. North-Murphy, and Mr. Schlafly.) |
| Mr. Schlafly moved: |
that the Board come out of Executive Session. MOTION APPROVED (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Ms. North-Murphy, and Mr. Schlafly.) |
| Mr. Savage moved: |
that be meeting be adjourned. MOTION APPROVED (In favor Mr. Volpe, Mr. Savage, Mr. Dubinsky, Ms. North-Murphy, and Mr. Schlafly.) |