Audit shows library district OK financially

Heather Rawlyk

Thursday, Oct. 9, 2003 | 9:19 a.m.

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District is financially healthy despite being turned down twice on a ballot question that would have raised taxes to build more libraries, according to draft audit being released today.

The district finished the fiscal year, which ended June 30, with an $18 million balance in its daily operational fund, debt service, capital fund and gift and grant fund. That was only slightly less than the previous year.

The library district had twice asked voters to increase taxes by about $9 per year on a $100,000 home to raise $50.6 million for four new libraries and the people to staff them.

The general fund, which pays for daily operations, finished the year with $6.3 million, which the library district plans to use as a cushion, Executive Director Daniel Walters said.

"We want to always have these reserves so that we don't have to stop buying books, close libraries or lay people off," he said. "We save as much as we can because of the bond issue."

That reserve could take the library through about two months in an emergency, Chief Financial Officer Fred James said.

Walters said that the reserve was about what the district needed.

"We are trying hard to budget and save money for those periods when it doesn't come in," Walters said. "We will keep any extra income as reserves so that we never have to borrow money."

In addition, the district's total debt decreased by $5.9 million, or 10 percent during the current fiscal year. Walters said that the audit confirms the high ratings the district has recently received. "I think ... the audit shows that we are prudent and conservative managers of the taxpayers' money," he said. "We saved the taxpayers almost $1 million due to refinancing of debt."

The district recently earned Standard & Poor's "AA" rating. The rating is high for a special purpose entity such as the library, according to the Hobbs, Ong & Associates, Inc., which did the audit.

"A strong debt rating means that a district is receiving the most favorable interest rates," the auditors said. "Taxpayers benefit by paying a reduced tax bill."