Greetings, Chair Haschak and Board Members,

My name is Susan Sher. I am the City of Ukiah representative for the Library Advisory Board (LAB) and am also the Vice-Mayor of the City of Ukiah. As alluded to by LAB Chair, Michele Bisson Savoy in the LAB's Annual Report, board members are perplexed by the very high and inexplicable A-87 proposed charges of $587,953 in Library's 2024-2025 budget. That figure is approximately $220,00 more than the A-87 charges in the 2023-2024 budget and amounts to 11% of the entire Library budget for this year.

I am not expert in this area so in the absence of an explanation from County officials, I've done a bit of research to try to understand how this figure was calculated. But I now have more questions than answers.

According to the Federal Office of Management and Budget, A-87 costs are allocated for central administrative and overhead expenses to County departments related to federally funded grants and programs. What federally funded grants or programs does the Library run that would merit assessing A-87 costs and what methodology or cost allocation has been used to arrive at these amounts? Since the Library is a Special District, it seems feasible that charges for the County to adminsiter Measure O funding and charge for services such as IT, County Counsel, Auditor or Facilities. But how have those amounts been calculated? It is a mystery how, for example, $103,243 has been designated for Information Technology services and $91,554 for Human Resources. How many hours and at what hourly rate for these services have been charged? Similarly, the amount of $20,159 for County Counsel has been assessed with no explanation regarding what services were provided and at what rate. If any of us received a bill for legal services with no breakdown of what we are being charged for, certainly we would be justified in asking for more information before we pay the bill. And why has the Library been charged $85,867 for Facilities? How much money, if any of the County's General Fund was spent for buildings and building improvements? As you know, many of the Library's expenses for improvements are paid for by the various Friends of the Library chapters and not the County. Is it possible the County is seeking reimbursement for monies it did not spend?

Please answer these questions or assign a staffmember to meet with the LAB board. We have requested a meeting with the Auditor but have been informed that we may have to wait quite a while for a meeting date. In the meantime, the Library is significantly feeling the hardship of losing 11% of our budget.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Respectfully,
Susan Sher