Public Library Tax Funds

There are many different expenses for running a public library. A majority of funding used to pay for these expenses comes from property tax revenues. Did you know, however, that in Illinois there are various special funds you can create for certain expenses?

Here are some of the special funds you can create:

• Audit fund – this fund pays only for the library’s annual audit expenses.
• IMRF (Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund) fund – this fund pays only for the library’s IMRF expenses. With recent news about IMRF employer rates increasing in calendar year 2010, this would be a good fund to start if you don’t already use it.
• Medicare/Social Security fund – this fund pays only for the library’s payroll taxes related to Medicare & Social Security.
• Building/Maintenance fund – this fund is only for the library’s building(s) and upkeep, and can be used for (1) purchase of sites & buildings, (2) construction and equipment of buildings, (3) rental of buildings for library purposes, and (4) maintenance, repair and alterations of buildings and equipment.
• Insurance fund – this fund pays only for the building, liability and errors & omission insurance. It does not pay for health insurance costs. It can also cover risk management and self-insured expenses.

Levying for these funds is outside of your general fund, so if paying for any expenses listed above out of your general fund, you should consider creating and levying for the above special funds, freeing up dollars for general library purposes.