Library's free utilities to end

by Karen E. Culp

SBJ Staff

When the Springfield-Greene County Library requested free utility service for its new Library Center, in the former Payless Cashways building, City Utilities of Springfield had to take a step back.

The municipally owned utility has always provided free utilities to city-owned buildings, said John Twitty, deputy general manager, but for the past several years, the city of Springfield has not been the owner of the library's buildings. In 1972, the library formed a city-county library district, and that district became the owner of the library's buildings.

"Now the argument can be made that the city is no longer the owner of those buildings, and we are in discussions as to what happens now," said Annie Busch, director of the Springfield-Greene County Library.

The utility and the library have been in discussions for a few weeks about whether the district will continue to have free utilities for its facilities in the Springfield city limits. Only two of the library's branches in Springfield are still titled in the city's name: the Brentwood and Main Library buildings, Busch said. The remainder are owned by the library district.

The loss of free utilities could cost the library an additional $60,000 to $100,000 a year, Busch said.

"We are still calculating the cost now, but it could be a major financial hit for us," she added.

The additional cost for utilities may force the district to cut back on spending for other items, such as expanding its hours at the Library Center, the new library branch set to open in November, or on materials.

"We will simply have to look at what we do not have to do and find places to make allowances," Busch said.

City Utilities gives $2.5 million in free utilities to city-owned buildings each year, Twitty said. CU must provide free utilities to city buildings, as directed by the city charter. The utility also gives free utilities to some facilities per their request on a case-by-case basis. The utility has two such agreements in place now, one with the Ozark Empire Fair's E-Plex and another with Rivercut Golf Course, Twitty said. Those agree-ments were to sunset in two years, and those two years are nearly up, he added.

The library has had ongoing free services as a result of its once being city-owned, Twitty said. The utility is now looking at helping the district make an "orderly transition" to paid utility status. The library's budget year started July 1, so CU will look to implement a plan for the next budget year.

"We are sensitive to the fact that their budget year just started and that something like this would be difficult to do mid budget year, so we are working with them to help them make the transition from their current situation to a new one," Twitty said.

The discussions over free utilities for the library came about because the library wanted to add its new Library Center to the list of its buildings receiving free services, Twitty said, though with pending restructuring of the electric industry in Missouri, he said the utility has to consider such components of its operation.

"We have to be good stewards of our customers' money. We will be taking an ongoing look at the free services issue. It's one of those areas we have to be considering as we face changes in our industry and as we try to maintain the lowest costs for our customers," Twitty said.

The library is funded through local property taxes collected from those living in its district. Those taxes account for 92 percent of the library's funding, while the remainder comes from competitive grants and fees paid by patrons for services such as photocopying and for fines for returning books late, Busch said.

The Library Center will open in November and the Kickapoo Prairie Branch will close, Busch said.