The $19 million allocated for downtown library construction will remain with the East Baton Rouge Parish Library System even if plans for the controversial project fall through or if the project comes in under budget. Assistant Director Mary Stein says the money is in a fund balance, which is set apart from the general budget. “The fund balance is the library’s money. The money includes construction but also projects not planned from the regular budget,” she says. Stein says the library system plans its regular budget in March. “The budget pays for maintenance but not for catastrophic costs,” she says. The fund balance is “basically our savings,” she says. “In general terms, we’re saving for a rainy-day emergency or opportunity, or construction.”
The $19 million fund, Stein says, prevents the library from having to issue bonds, which the system’s 10-year business cycle renders impractical. “Most governments don’t pay as you go, and most libraries certainly don’t. That’s pretty special,” she says. —Ian McGibboney
