During the last meeting before the summer, the Roselle Park Veterans Memorial Library Board of Trustees approved an across-the-board 1.75% raise for library employees for 2014. This amount is consistent with salary increases for clerical employees in the borough. Of the 12 employees, four are full-time salaried with the remaining eight having an hourly rate ranging from $14.76 to $26.91.
The reason for the delay in approving the increases was due to the Library Board waiting until the municipal budget was approved and passed by the governing body to be assured of the amount the library would receive in its 2014 operating budget. The minimum library tax that is mandatorily provided by the State for 2014 was $339,991.01. This is a 4% decrease from 2013’s minimum amount of $354,330.71; although it is a 24% decrease from 2009’s highest minimum library tax of $456,503.
Since 2012, the municipality has been providing additional aid to the library to maintain a healthy budget.
This year, Mayor & Council approved additional funds of close to $39,000 to the library so it could have an operating budget of $378,900. The combined salaries of the four (4) full-time library employees accounts for 54% of the library’s total budget.
The raises were approved this past Wednesday, however they are retroactive from January of this year.