The Regional Asset District Board yesterday approved the reslicing of the tax-dollar pie for the county's 44 libraries, ending months of uncertainty about how the $5.175 million allocation will be shared next year.

The process continues, however. RAD told members of the Allegheny County Library Association that the changes affect 2010 only and that more modifications are needed to make its funding formula "the best it can be."

RAD board members said yesterday they plan to continue working with ACLA over the next six months to improve the formula

ACLA members spent more than two years devising an allocation formula that would be more equitable to individual libraries than the original 1995 system, but RAD rejected the new plan on Sept. 29.

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PG Chart

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RAD funding for county libraries

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The revised formula approved yesterday deals with RAD's objection that local government support to community libraries was omitted from the calculations.

The approved plan counts 20 percent of "local income" as a factor in the calculations and reduces the importance of population and circulation as factors.

In rejecting the original ACLA proposal, RAD's library committee members told it to put more weight on local government funding to "encourage the growth" of that support for individual libraries. Wilkinsburg, for example, has a dedicated tax for its library, but some others have no consistent local funding.

"RAD funding has the capacity for limited support of local libraries to assist them in providing countywide services. It cannot be the foundation for those libraries...," the committee said.

ACLA added a "phase-in" process for 2010 in order to limit large increases or decreases in the allocation -- thus softening the blow for some libraries that saw proposed funding drop by more than $170,000 in one year. To calculate the 2010 figures, it combined half of this year's amount and half of the revised formula figures.

The new calculation will give libraries whose budgets were chopped a year "to adjust to the new funding level, regardless of its severity," the RAD panel said.

The 44 libraries will share the same amount of RAD funds in 2010 as they did this year.

Representatives for the Shaler, North Hills and Mt. Lebanon public libraries spoke against the revised formula at yesterday's meeting, arguing that it was the result of rushed decision-making.

"We believe it's riddled with flaws," said Christopher Cahillane, president of the Mt. Lebanon Library board of trustees.

Mr. Cahillane maintained that the new formula didn't help distressed libraries. He also said it didn't meet the stated goals of being simple and equitable to libraries. He also called the 34-4 ACLA vote in favor of the formula "a misimpression."

"In my view, ACLA is more divided than ever right now," he said.

Adopting the revised formula for 2010 "gives us some breathing room" to consider alterations in the months ahead, board member Rick Pierchalski said.

"It's pretty complex. It's certainly not simple," he said.

However, board chairwoman Dusty Kirk said her concern was that RAD would never be able to find a "middle ground" that would be acceptable to all ACLA members.

Despite the revisions, there are more losers than gainers next year -- 23 libraries will receive less money, 21 more, the same numbers produced under the rejected formula.

Among the gainers are the Carnegie Library of McKeesport ($58,880) and Braddock Carnegie Library ($24,711). Losers include Mt. Lebanon ($67,499) and Shaler ($28,046).

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