Mar. 5—ATHENS — The Athens City Council will make Athens-Limestone Public Library workers city employees in a move that will ease the library's administrative burden and strengthen its bond with the city that had frayed three years ago, resulting then in the city cutting $30,000 of the library's funding.

The library will continue to operate as an independent entity that uses a variety of funding sources, and the city will take over only the administrative aspects of its budget.

Council members approved making library workers city employees at its meeting last week. Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks said the city felt it was time to provide assistance to the library for human resources and their finances. He said in order to do that they must become city employees.

"We already do their payroll and help them with their building and other things," he said. "Quite honestly, it's in the best overall plan as we move forward for them to become a department. Basically, a department with their funding and finances with the city of Athens."

The main benefit for the employees, Marks said, is the city's HR department.

"Our HR department can help them with employees, employee benefits and so forth," he said. "We just think it's a benefit to the employees, certainly not any big factor for the city of Athens."

In December 2019, the city cut its appropriation for the library from $130,000 annually to $100,000 because of concerns about the library's financial controls. The Limestone County Commission had already cut $30,000 from its appropriation. Both the city and county restored the full funding as of the current fiscal year after library policy changes.

Jen Baxter, who has been Athens-Limestone Public Library director the past two years, said the library has 11 employees: eight full time and three part time. She said the library has always done its own hiring, but now the city will be helping them with their personnel and administration.

"There's just two of us in administration," Baxter said. "When it comes to getting some help and alleviating some of the burden on us in the back, that's hopefully the majority of what's going to go on here."

Libraries are unique in the eyes of Alabama law, Baxter said, and the library is its own entity. She said the library gets support from the state.

"We're written into the Alabama code so the city can't ever really own the library," she said. "Our board could never be taken over by the city because the state of Alabama won't allow it. We're still our own entity."

Marks said the library will still have a board which determines the budget. He said the library's budget is about $700,000 annually.

"That budget will be looked at by our city and our city clerk and we'll do a line item budget just like they do for other departments," Marks said. "They will still have their budget and will adhere to their budget."

Baxter said their means of funding will remain the same and Athens will not take over full funding.

"Essentially what the city's doing is helping us run our operations more smoothly since we're very limited on what we have," she said. "We're just a pretty small operation and our funding is not robust. This is one of the ways, I think, that we're trying to find ways to work with what we've got."

She added, "It helps us as a small organization to be able to kind of take some of that time and energy that we put towards it and focus a lot more on library stuff and what we can do at the library."

Athens City Clerk Annette Barnes said Athens has already been allocating funds to the library annually.

"This arrangement will have no effect on the current appropriation of $130,000 (per) year," she said. "The appropriations are determined in October of each year and will be reviewed along with all the appropriations in October 2023 for the 2024 fiscal year."

Limestone County has also been allocating funds to the library and gave $80,000 in fiscal 2022. Collin Daly, Limestone County Commission chairman, said the library building is owned 50/50 between the county and the city.

"As far as the appropriation, that will be totally up to the commission body come this October with budget appropriations," he said. "I'm quite sure that they will ask for the same appropriation, and the commission body as a whole will have to make that decision then."

Two other large annual appropriations the library receives are $80,000 in Tennessee Valley Authority in lieu of tax money and $125,000 from the state.

Baxter said now the library will have the same health insurance as the city.

"Instead of having two separate insurance groups, and we handle that and we pay more, and then they'll actually help us handle the RSA which is the retirement," she said.

Barnes said employee salaries will only be increased if the library board decides to do so.

"Our HR director will coordinate with the board and determine how the existing positions fit within our pay scale," she said. "If any changes are made, those increases would be funded by the library board's budget and will have no impact on the city's appropriation."

Marks said the city initiated the idea of library employees becoming city employees many years ago.

"It's been discussed for quite a few years," he said. "Actually, it goes back a long time ago, even when Mayor Dan Williams was here, when they first brought this to our attention when we were on the City Council. Something has been discussed off and on for a number of years."

Marks said it is currently unknown when the change will take effect.

"We're going to shoot for April 1, first pay period in April. But it may not be that quick," Marks said. "Let me just say as soon as possible."

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.