July 4, 2016 - Minutes

Date:

Monday, July 4, 2016

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie, Chair
Councillor Chak Au
Councillor Derek Dang
Councillor Carol Day
Councillor Ken Johnston
Councillor Alexa Loo
Councillor Bill McNulty
Councillor Linda McPhail
Councillor Harold Steves

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:43 p.m.

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Finance Committee held on June 6, 2016, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

FINANCE AND CORPORATE SERVICES DIVISION

1.

2017-2021 Budget Process

(File Ref. No. 03-0970-25-2016-01) (REDMS No. 5042644)

In response to a question from Committee, Melissa Shiau, Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis noted that staff are working with the Communications department to finalize a public input process.

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the staff report titled “2017-2021 Budget Process” dated June 13, 2016 from the Director, Finance be received for information; and

(2)

That the services as presented in Attachment 2 of the staff report be approved as the base for the 2017 budget.

CARRIED

2.

UPDATE ON RICHMOND PUBLIC LIBRARY STRATEGIES TO REDUCE EXPENSES AND INCREASE REVENUE

(File Ref. No. 03-0970-25-2016-01) (REDMS No. 5043051 v. 2)

Greg Buss, Chief Librarian, advised that the Library Board, at their meeting held on June 29, 2016, approved the amendments to borrowing policies, fines and certain branch hours outlined in the report to Committee, with some minor changes, based on public feedback on customer services.

In response to questions from Committee, Mr. Buss stated that comments from the public indicated dissatisfaction with the current maximum borrowing limit of 25 and that the increased borrowing limit to 30 books would better serve families, researchers and those from educational institutions such as teachers who often take out multiple books at one time.

Discussion ensued in regards to staff investigating the impact of increasing per capita funding to the library in the next budget.

Mr. Buss, responding to queries from Committee, further commented that (i) while the library’s budget is increasing, this is to provide the same level of service to the public (ii) the Library Board saw common complaints around insufficient materials in the collection and limited branch hours (iii) the library has invested in new services such as the Launchpad, digital services and programs that were budgeted from capital and capital surplus over a number of years (iv) an analysis on the percentage of users who borrow up to the maximum limit has not been completed, but precise numbers could be provided in the future (v) the Library Board is open to examining all possibilities of cost savings and want to find systems that work while still providing services to the public and (vi) the strong fund development program is a sponsorship opportunity for other organizations, such as businesses, to support and develop services that are appealing to the community provided by the library.

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the staff report titled “Update on Richmond Public Library Strategies to Reduce Expenses and Increase Revenue” dated June 21, 2016 from the Director, Finance be received for information;

(2)

That staff explore the impacts of adding a minimum of $1 per capita to the library budget;

(3)

That staff provide an analysis on borrowing limits; and

(4)

That staff provide an analysis of municipal services that municipal libraries should and currently provide.

The question on the motion was not called as discussion ensued with regard to services provided by the library and the funding and programming provided by other municipal libraries.

The question on the motion was then called and it was CARRIED.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (5:20 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Finance Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Monday, July 4, 2016.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie
Chair

Amanda Welby

Acting Legislative Services Coordinator