KALONA

The Kalona Public Library’s Board of Trustees accepted “with regret” the resignation of Library Director Trevor Sherping Tuesday night at their regular meeting. His resignation is effective March 31, 2024.

Although the board is sorry to lose him, the reason for his departure is a positive one.

“My wife is pregnant with our first child. I’m going to be a stay-at-home parent,” he explained. “She’s due in mid-March.”

After the meeting, Sherping told The News that he had been upfront about his and his wife Sonja’s plans for their family when he accepted his position almost four years ago, so his resignation was not a complete surprise.

“This is the only job I’ve ever had that I’ve genuinely enjoyed, so it’s kind of sad,” he told the board.

“We have genuinely enjoyed having you,” board president Frank Slabaugh said.

The board posted the job opening for the position of library director immediately.

FY23-24 Budget Concerns

Although “we’d love to see him stay,” Kalona’s City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh, who attended the meeting with City Clerk Sarah Schmelar, told the board that Sherping’s departure occurs at the perfect time, as library funding faces serious challenges next fiscal year. It’s likely the library will have to reduce its three full-time staff members down to two, among other compromises.

The reason for “a lot of nervousness” surrounding the FY23-24 budget is the passage of HF718, the property tax reform agreement Gov. Reynolds signed into law in May 2023. It combines levies across Iowa to reduce statewide property taxes by over $100 million.

Many Iowans celebrated the property tax reform this summer as it gives special relief to veterans and seniors, as well as limits local government spending. However, now that the League of Cities has held a workshop for cities in November, more is being understood about what that means in practical terms.

HF718 consolidates city levies into the general fund. If a city has special levies, they can now be allocated for other uses if the city chooses.

Kalona voters approved a levy specifically for the library of .27¢ per $1000, which brings in $30,000 to $32,000 per year.

“That’s gone,” Schlabaugh told the board. “It’s no longer eligible for us to even use. It’s not going to be on the form anymore. That’s disappointing, because it’s a voter-approved levy. But they are taking it away and it cannot be brought back, by law.”

Going forward, library funding will be a part of the overall city budget. How much it can afford to allocate to it will depend on revenue, which at the moment is unknown.

Another aspect of HF718 is that it caps allowable growth at 3%, which means that no matter how high property values rise, cities can only assess taxes up to 3% of that growth.

“It’s going to be a little bit challenging,” Schlabaugh said.

Property tax reform will also have an effect at the county level, and Washington County provides funding for the Kalona Library.

“I think it’s safe to say that some of the discussions that the library community in Washington County has had with the supervisors have had discussion of cuts on the table at times,” Schlabaugh said.

Although much remains unknown, the city is “being proactive” and also “anticipating that there’s not going to be enough money to go around” in the manner that it has in the past.

When it comes to the library director, the hope is that a new director will be in place in January so that they can be a part of budget discussions.