FY25 Town Budget FAQs

Why is the library proposing an increase of $50,000 in the FY25 Town of Bar Harbor budget (an increase from $280,000 to $330,000)? Is this related to the expansion?

First, the Jesup published a full report describing the library's operations and finances available here.

In that report you will see that the Jesup is one of the lowest funded libraries in Maine when compared to similarly sized libraries. Although this is not a new problem for the library, the rate of inflation and cost of living in Bar Harbor has made this an urgent issue that can't be ignored any longer.

Although it is the case that the expansion was entirely funded through private donations and grants ($0 from local taxes) over the past 10 years, in the years ahead we hope to add 1.25 FTE employees to staff the new expansion (12,000 sf).

However, our request for an increase of $50,000 in this year's Town budget has nothing to do with increasing employees or the expansion, but instead represents the amount needed to maintain current operations. Over the past 5 years, compounding inflation has added over $150,000 to our operating costs and the increased cost of health benefits has added $75,000 to our budget. The library, which serves thousands of Bar Harbor residents year round, is grappling with this reality and working to ensure services continue for our community.

The Jesup has no ability to raise rates or charge fees. As a public library, we are dependent upon fundraising and support from the Town of Bar Harbor to deal with increased costs. The library has successfully increased its fundraising over the past several years, but it is not enough to offset increasing costs. Only twice in 112 years have we asked the Town for additional support - once in 2017 and again in 2022.

As you can see in great detail in the report linked above, we’ve had to raise more of our operating support through private donations than almost any other library in Maine, but it is not enough. We are now attempting to make up for lost ground as increases in cost have exceeded donations. Without this additional support, the library will have to reduce staff and services in the coming years.

We believe it is important that taxpayers know that, contrary to so many important public services (including the overwhelming majority of public libraries) across the state, the Jesup brings in more revenue than it costs taxpayers. In 2023, the Jesup received $280,000 from the Town but depended on $408,000 in non-tax operating revenue to support its services (not to mention a $14MM campaign to support the upcoming expansion). However, that revenue does not show up in the Town's budget book (and it is very uncommon for public libraries to depend so significantly on philanthropy to operate), and therefore many are unaware of that fact. Our library cardholders, families, students, seasonal and year-round workers, and retirees on fixed incomes depend on the library. At a total cost of $65 / year or $1.25 / week for the median household, these services are a great value for Bar Harbor residents.