LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS

John White  (President)
Hazel DeFore  (Vice President)
Doris McKay (Secretary)
Marsha Ferguson (Treasurer)
Dorothy Morsch (Trustee)
Roger Jebe(Trustee)


ARGENTA-OREANA PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT
2010 BOARD MEETINGS  4:30 PM.

Meeting Minutes for December 14, 2009

Meeting Minutes for January 25, 2010

Minutes of a Special Meeting of
Argenta-Oreana Public Library District
Board of Trustees
November 24, 2009 at Oreana

The meeting was called to order by the Board President, John White at 4:35 pm. Also present were library board members: Hazel DeFore, Marsha Ferguson, Roger Jebe, and Doris McKay. Also in attendance were Crystal M. Kern, library accountant, and Ann Adkesson, library consultant from Decatur. Absent were board member, Dorothy Morsch, and board treasure, Maria Lightner. 

The board discussed rearranging the agenda in order to allow Ann Adkesson to go first with her presentation on how she might be able to assist the Argenta-Oreana Public Library District in meeting their current needs for interim leadership. 

Ann Adkesson provided the board members with a copy of her resume and her proposal for service as Interim Director. Ann’s resume highlighted her educational background, and her experiences working at four different libraries; most notably her 25 years as the Director at Barclay Public Library District in Warrensburg and most recently 6 months as the Interim Director at Mt. Zion Public District Library. At Mt Zion PDL, she provided the library with management services and transitioned the library through the process of the hiring a new director and providing the new director with assistance in orienting her to the library and the required procedures and reporting requirements. Based on this experience, Ann’s proposal is to provide hourly ($30/hr), part-time (15-20 hrs/ wk) temporary (up to 6 months) management services consisting of:

            Assisting the board in the hiring process

            Oversee general operation of the library

                     Oversee the budget, expenditures according to policies and board                      approval

                     Communicate with library vendors, approve purchases        

            Review and order library materials, manage the collection

            Prepare monthly report to the board

            Attend board meetings

           Other services, as time permits could include:

 Plan programs, manage web site, if Plinkit based

 Act as Reference librarian, Reader’s advisor, if needed.
 

After hearing Ann’s proposal, the board asked questions regarding her experience as Interim Director at Mt. Zion PDL and her Interim Director proposal. John White asked about the procedures for getting an extension with the Comptroller for the Financial Report due to the sudden departure of the director. After a brief discussion, Roger Jebe moved, and Hazel DeFore seconded the motion to hire Ann Adkesson as Interim Director.  Motion passed with all ayes. 

Doris McKay reported that in order for Crystal M. Kern to be able to make the IMRF contributions for the November payroll that the board needed to complete a notice of Appointment of Authorized Agent for IMRF. After a brief discussion on who would be the appropriate party to have this authorization, Doris McKay moved that the board adopt the resolution that Ann Adkesson, Interim Director, be appointed the Authorized Agent for IMRF. Roger Jebe seconded the resolution, and the resolution was passed with all ayes. 

Doris also reported that that thanks to questions from the accountant, Crystal Kern, about the Comptrollers Report, she had contacted Bev Obert, Director at Rolling Prairie Library System, and she been able to determine that Cyndi had not filed this year’s Comptroller Report. After a discussion of the procedures and a review of last year’s report, it was decided that John White, Board President, would apply to the Comptroller for an extension. Ann Adkesson and Crystal Kern would work together to see about filling this year’s report. Ann would also check to see if the Treasure’s Report and the Levy had been filed with the County Clerks. 

Marsha Ferguson reported that Gerber State Bank had requested that the board complete new forms as to the access to the library accounts. Board member’s present completed the form. 

The board discussed the employee policies with regard to vacation, sick and holiday pay. 

Crystal Kern reported that it appeared that the third June payroll that Cyndi had done apparently was not included in the IMRF payment for that period, as a result she needed a report which broke down what the employees had contributed and what the library had contributed in order to make the adjustments in the employee’s checks. The reports that Cyndi provided were just totals of what was paid. July wages were correct, as were the contribution amounts. John suggested that the library board look into discontinuing IMRF, as the library’s annual contribution is $12,000.

John White reported that he had spoken to the Attorney, Phil Lenzini, and Phil had recommended the following actions be taken by the board.

• Identify and reconcile any gaps in the books, and handle the books correctly going forward.
• Take corrective actions to insure that such problems do not recur.
• If evidence of embezzlement is found, notify the State’s Attorney’s Office.
• Pay Cyndi for her time worked as of 11/16/2009 and earned vacation, and deliver it by hand and ask that she sign it over to the library as down payment on the amount owed due to overpayment.
• Determine the precise amount of the overpayment and send Cyndi a letter with the calculation/documentation of the overpayment and demand payment.

John White indicated that he and Roger would deliver the check Monday, November 30^th.  John will also send an email to Denise and Kristi that he will ask them to post for the staff at each of the libraries, notifying them of the board’s selection of Ann Adkesson as Interim Director. 

Hazel DeFore moved and Marsha Ferguson seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:30 p.m. The motion passed. 

The next regular board meeting will be December14^th at Oreana.
 

Respectfully submitted,
 

Doris J. McKay, Secretary

Minutes of the
Argenta-Oreana Public Library District
Board of Trustees
November 16, 2009 at Oreana

The meeting was called to order by the Board President, John White at 4:30 pm. Also present were library board members: Roger Jebe , Maria Lightner, Doris McKay and Dorothy Morsch, as well as the Library Director, Cynthia Bowman and Library Accountant, Crystal Kern. Board Member, Marsha Ferguson and Board Vice-President, Hazel DeFore were absent. 

Dorothy Morsch moved and Maria Lightner seconded the motion that the minutes of the regular October 26^th meeting be approved, and the motion passed. 

Doris McKay asked approximately how much of the payroll costs that occurred on June 30^th and should have occurred on July 15^th were impacting the Profit & Loss statements. Crystal indicated that it would be about $3,000. There was a brief discussion on the categories and classes assigned for Internet access and work done at each of the library buildings. 

Doris asked why checks #6620 and #6621 were both listed twice with different recipients. Cyndi indicated that it had been a typo. The check to DPL had actually been check #6617 rather than #6620. When the bank statement arrives the correct check # will be determined for the duplicate check #6621. 

Doris also asked what the check for $1,163.85 to Electrical Service Company was for? Cyndi reported that is was for $533.59 in labor and $610.26 in materials and $20 for travel costs.  This was to repair and replace ballasts, lights and sockets at the Argenta Library, and to wall mount a light outside the south door and to relocate the receptacle for the vending machine to the side of the building at the Oreana Library. 

Doris asked what the checks to Cyndi for $35.96 and to Carol for $17.70 were for? Cyndi reported that they were for mileage reimbursements at $.55/mile. The check for Cyndi was for a trip to Mt Pulaski, and the check for Carol was for a trip to Rolling Prairie in Decatur. 

Doris asked what Check #6622 to Presentations Direct for $188.80 was for? Cyndi reported that is was for laminator film. 

Doris McKay moved and Roger Jebe seconded the motion that the October bills be approved and the motion passed with all ayes, except for Maria Lightner who abstained. 

Crystal Kern, Accountant, reported her findings to date with the accounting.

• Amended 941-X’s have been completed for the first three quarters. Underpayments were made for the first two quarters of $903.64. An overpayment of $1,281.19 was made for the third quarter. 
• The accounting method was changed back to cash from accrual.
• Crystal’s request to Cyndi for IMRF information is still outstanding.
• The library is over budget for Janitor (#68002) and Yard Labor (#68003). The library currently pays $100 per week to clean each of the buildings.
• Crystal recommended that in order to insure that fair labor guidelines were followed, Carol should be paid for Summer Reading based on her actual hours worked, rather than the flat rate of $2,000.
• The budget for corporate payroll is $107,000 and last year’s payroll was $124,168.69 and the previous year’s was $115,900.92. As of July, the two salaried employees were given raises. Cyndi’s raise was $248.54 per pay period which amounted to a nearly 10% increase in salary, following a 6% increase in 2007 and a 5.4% increase in 2008. In July, Kristi was switched from hourly to salary and given an 8.3% raise. Scheduling adjustments may be needed to stay within budget.
• At the current rate of spending the budget shortfall is $45,452 unless the $38,300 estimated Legacies and Bequests are received, which will reduce the budget short fall to $7,000.
• Crystal’s request for an accounting of the petty cash has not yet been met. 

At 5:25 Maria Lightner left the board meeting. 

Crystal was asked if it was determined what needed to be done to correct the employee’s pay, and she indicated that it should probably be corrected over several months, as it would be a hardship for the employees to make up for the errors on a single check. After completing her report, Crystal spoke to the board regarding a request that was made by Cyndi from one or more of the board members that Crystal felt was not appropriate. John White requested that board members refrain from such actions and asked Cyndi to please notify the appropriate board members. 

Cyndi was asked by the board why she had made various decisions with regard to payments for cleaning, Summer Reading, yard services, and significant changes in staff salary in lieu of the current budget concerns. Cyndi indicated that the decisions were based on past practices. She indicated that she had significantly increased Kristi’s responsibilities and felt that Kristi should be salaried even though she does not work 40 hrs per week. Cyndi was also asked why her salary had increased 6% in 2007 when only a nearly 3% increase had been approved by the board. She indicated that it had been a mistake. She was also questioned about the 5.4% increase in 2008 and the nearly 10% increase in 2009, neither of which had been authorized by the board. Cyndi indicated that the later was a mistake, and that she did not know what happened in 2008. 

Cyndi Bowman in the Librarian’s report noted that they Argenta Library alarm had gone off three nights in a row. A computer went out at the Argenta Library, no bill yet. The RPLS driver key broke off in the Argenta door resulting in the lock being changed and the key removed for $94.75 charge. 

Cyndi recommended that the board make the following cuts in order to stay within the budget.

            Shut down the library an hour earlier on Friday                      $1,105
            Starting in January decrease hours for employees                  $2,548
            Books                                                                            $4,000
            Paul (twice/month)                                                          $   780
            Josh (twice/month)                                                          $   150
            Janitor ($100/month)                                                        $   300
            Equipment                                                                      $2,000
            Supplies                                                                         $3,000     ______________________________________________                                           Total                                                                            $ 13,883

At 6:50 pm Marsha Ferguson arrived at the meeting. 

The discussion of the working budget was tabled. 

At 7:00 pm the board voted unanimously to go into closed session for the purpose of discussing personnel, as allowed within the exceptions to the Open Meetings Act, 5 Illinois Compiled Statutes 120/2 (c) (1).  At 7:34 pm the board voted to come out of closed session. 

John White indicated that due to serious irregularities in the bookkeeping he would be open to a motion from the board. Doris McKay moved and Roger Jebe seconded the motion that Cynthia Bowman, Library Director, be terminated immediately due to irregularities in the bookkeeping. All board members present voted aye. 

Doris McKay moved and Roger Jebe seconded the motion that Kristi Haltom’s salary be returned to an hourly rate. All board members present voted aye. 

In miscellaneous business, the board discussed the actions needing to be taken in order to insure regular operation of the libraries. John White is to contact the Library Attorney, Phil Lenzini, Maria Lightner and Crystal Kern. Dorothy Morsch is to contact Hazel DeFore. Marsha Ferguson is to contact the bank. Doris McKay is to contact Denise Lanter and Kristi Haltom about keeping the libraries open; and Bill Beals, Mt Zion PLD, and Bev Obert, RPLS, regarding recommendations for an Interim Director. Roger Jebe agreed to keep the extra set of keys and act as the contact person for the library staff. 

It was determined that if necessary the board would make the appropriate notifications for a special meeting prior to the next regular meeting of the board in order to insure regular operation of the library. 

The next regular board meeting will be December 14^th at Oreana. Dorothy Morsch moved and Marsha Ferguson seconded the motion that the meeting be adjourned at 8:00 pm. The motion passed.
 

Respectfully submitted,
 

Doris J. McKay, Secretary

Minutes of the

Argenta-Oreana Public Library District

Board of Trustees

October 26, 2009 at Oreana

The meeting was called to order by the Board Member, Roger Jebe at 4:30 pm. Also present were library board members: Marsha Ferguson, Maria Lightner, Doris McKay and Dorothy Morsch, as well as the Library Director, Cynthia Bowman and Library Accountant, Crystal Kern. Board President, John White and Board Vice-President, Hazel DeFore were absent. 

Marsha Ferguson moved and Dorothy Morsch seconded the motion that the minutes of the regular board meeting of September 28^th be approved and the motion passed. 

Maria Lightner moved and Dorothy Morsch seconded the motion that the minutes of the special board meeting held October 13^th be approved and the motion passed. 

Doris McKay, Board Secretary, noted that on October 5^th the A-O PLD board went into closed session in the belief that the matters to be discussed fell within the exceptions to the Open Meetings Act, 5 Illinois Compiled Statutes 120/2 (c) (1); however it has since been determined that this was not the case, so she moved that the minutes of the October 5^th meeting be made open to the public. The recording of the closed session and the summary minutes should be made immediately available to the public and the verbatim recording kept for 18 months in compliance with the Open Meetings Act. Maria Lightner seconded the motion, and all members present voted aye. 

Crystal Kern reported her findings after completing a review and correction of the first three months of the QuickBooks entries for the library. She indicated that she changed the funds back to a single company. She had found that the bank accounts had been setup as income accounts, resulting in an over statement of income. Expense accounts had been setup incorrectly and she had made the corrections. In July, a deposit of $11,700.47 from the Winnings Estate was incorrectly deposited into the Building Fund account. This money was transferred to the General account on 10/21/2009. A deposit of $41.70 from patron fees was incorrectly deposited into the IMRF account. This was transferred to the General account on 10/21/2009. 

Crystal indicated that the payroll accounts had been setup incorrectly, and that there were numerous payroll errors. In the first payroll, 7/15/2009, employee contributions to IMRF were withheld at the Library’s rate rather than the employee’s rate. The problem was discovered, but additional mistakes were made resulting in some employees being owed money and some employees owing money. Some of these corrections were made in cash and were not properly run through the system. The second payroll, 7/30/2009, the setup was incorrectly changed and Social Security and Medicare taxes were paid on the employer contribution to IMRF instead of the employee amount. This error carried through the October 15^th payroll. This resulted in an over payment to IRS and over-withholding from the employees. Less will be withheld from the employee’s checks until the discrepancy is zero. In the July payrolls, the Library made an overpayment to the US Treasury, $285.19. On the August payroll the Library underpaid the state withholding by $49.42, and this needs to be paid immediately. Also on the August payroll, the Library overpaid IMRF employee portion by $100. On the September 15^th a check was issued to Matt Brown. The check was not deleted, and because Matt no longer works for the library his W-2 will be incorrect. An additional error in the June 30^th payroll was brought to Crystal’s attention, which resulted in an employee having an extra $265.40 in additional Social Security being withheld and an over payment to the US Treasury, and this error needs to be corrected, but because it is in the old accounting software it has not yet been fixed. 

After considerable discussion, Roger Jebe moved that the board contract with Crystal, at Crystal’s normal hourly rate, to review and correct the payroll from 1/1/2009 through 6/30/2009 and submit the necessary corrected forms and determine the appropriate explanations and compensation corrections that need to be made for the library employees. Dorothy Morsch seconded the motion, and the motion passed with all ayes from the board members in attendance. It was agreed that John White would be contacted and asked to provide the appropriate contractual wording, and that Crystal could make arrangements to meet with Cyndi to get the necessary information and payroll records in order to make the necessary adjustments and corrections. 

Crystal reviewed with the board a Profit & Loss statement for the period July through September 2009. It was noted that the in addition to the various funds that petty cash should be counted and reported each month as well. Crystal gave the board a balance sheet as of September 30, 2009. She noted that the new QuickBooks had been setup to use the accrual method, while previously it appeared to have been using the cash method. She noted that she would check to see if that could be fixed to do the accounting using the cash method. Crystal also reviewed the Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual, noting the $10,461.60 short fall in the Tax Levy income. After Crystal’s presentation, she was thanked for her work, and she left to attend another board meeting.

In reviewing the bills, Cyndi noted that the Replacement tax deposit on 9/16 was from the Village of Argenta. On September 17^th the School Library had had a book sale and the Public Library had purchased some books. The double entry on the transfer into the general fund from the Social Security fund had been found, but not yet corrected, because Crystal had QuickBooks. Cyndi noted that while she had prepared Marjory Champion’s paycheck on 10/7, it was not given to her until the 15^th. The $650 check to Gaylord was for library cards. The motion was made by Marsha Ferguson that the October bills and fund reports be approved. The motion was seconded by Dorothy Morsch and passed with ayes from Marsha Ferguson, Dorothy Morsch and Roger Jebe. Maria Lightner and Doris McKay abstained. (Cyndi indicated that 4 votes were required to pass the motion. Doris indicated that since only five board members were present that only three votes were required to pass the motion.) Maria Lightner changed her vote to aye. 

Cyndi indicated that she had nothing to report for Librarian’s Report. 

In new business, the board reviewed the working budget. On finding errors in the math, it was decided to post-pone action until the next regular meeting. 

In miscellaneous business, Cyndi indicated that perhaps Crystal should be contracted with to do the bookkeeping regularly, rather than having Crystal work with Cyndi. The board discussed the $550 monthly costs to do this compared with the $250 monthly cost to have Crystal review Cyndi’s work. Maria noted that in the past when the library had contracted with an accounting firm that some of the bills had been paid late due to their only processing the bills on a monthly basis. Doris McKay moved that the board contact Crystal about revising her contract to change it to state that for the months of October, November and December the board would pay $550 per month to have Crystal handle the bookkeeping for the library, rather than $250 to review Cyndi’s work. With the additional stipulation that after December, she would continue to do the bookkeeping on a monthly basis for $550 per month, as long as both parties were agreeable to the arrangement. Roger Jebe seconded the motion.  Marsha Ferguson, Doris McKay, Dorothy Morsch and Roger Jebe voted ayes. Maria Lightner voted naye. The motion passed. It was agreed that John White would be asked to provide the appropriate language for the revision of the contract. 

The next regular board meeting will be November 16^th at Oreana. Maria Lightner moved and Marsha Ferguson seconded the motion that the meeting be adjourned at 6:00 pm. The motion passed. 

Respectfully submitted,

Doris J. McKay, Secretary

Minutes of a Special Meeting of

Argenta-Oreana Public Library District

Board of Trustees

October 13, 2009 at Oreana

The meeting was called to order by the Board President, John White at 4:40 pm. Also present were library board members: Marsha Ferguson, Roger Jebe, Doris McKay and Dorothy Morsch, as well as the Library Director, Cynthia Bowman. Absent from the meeting were board members, Maria Lightner and Hazel DeFore. 

The board discussed the two revised proposals submitted by May, Cocagne & King and Crystal Kern. 

It was noted that the May, Cocagne & King’s bid did not include provisions for consolidating the companies. It was proposed that corrections be made to July 2009 to account for the interfund activity, provide training as needed, review monthly financial statements, be a reference for Cyndi and attend board meetings for the first couple of months to explain the new format regarding the financials. It was discussed that this was not so much a firm bid as a reiteration of their hourly rates ($100 / hour for Lois) which were to apply. The estimate indicated that they anticipated at least 8 hours and provided for no cap on the estimate, though they did indicate that if significant additional time were required that the board would be notified and given a new fee estimate.
 

Crystal M. Kern’s proposal was to transfer the accounting information for July, August and September to one company with appropriate adjusting entries for a fee of $1,000 (20 hrs x $50) at which time she would return the books to Cyndi. She would then review and assist Cyndi via email and telephone to establish and ensure a more accurate method of account for $250 per month. She would also plan on attending monthly board meetings, as she is able. She noted that another library also met on the fourth Monday of the month. Crystal encouraged the board to reconsider the revised proposals and indicated that if the board chose instead to hire her to do the monthly accounts for $550 per month that she would forgo the initial $1,000 setup fee. It was noted that Crystal did not provide the detail in her proposal that she provided during her interview regarding the setup and reports that she would provide.
 

Roger Jebe moved and Dorothy Morsch seconded the proposal that the board contract with Crystal Kern for accounting services with John White writing up a more complete proposal to present to Crystal. The proposal would include the agreement to transfer the accounting information to one company for July, August and September with the appropriate adjusting and correcting entries for $1,000, transfer the work to Cyndi and assister her for the months of October, November and December  for $250 per month, and to become a resource to Cyndi thereafter for $50 per hour. The motion passed with all ayes. 

Neither John nor Hazel will be able to attend the October 26^th meeting, so Roger will conduct the meeting. 

Dorothy Morsch moved and Marsha Ferguson second that the meeting be adjourned at 5:15 p.m. The motion passed will all ayes. 

The next regular board meeting will be October 26^th at Oreana at 4:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
 

Doris J. McKay, Secretary

Minutes of a Special Meeting of

Argenta-Oreana Public Library District

Board of Trustees

October 5, 2009 at Oreana

The meeting was called to order by the Board President, John White at 4:30 pm. Also present were library board members: Hazel DeFore, Marsha Ferguson, Roger Jebe, Maria Lightner, Doris McKay and Dorothy Morsch, as well as the Library Director, Cynthia Bowman. Guests in attendance were Crystal M. Kern from Mt. Pulaski and Lois A. Lindsey from May, Cocagne & King from Decatur. 

The board discussed the procedures for handling the meeting and whether or not the meeting should be classed as an open meeting or a closed meeting. John suggested that the board meet with the parties separately with the goal to determine: 1) How they might be able to help us? 2) What would the costs be for monthly oversight? 3) What would their charges be to properly set up the library accounts? The majority of the board members felt that the meeting fell under the necessary conditions of personal and hiring and should be closed, so at 4:39 pm the board went into closed session, which was duly recorded as required by the open meetings act. 

Crystal M. Kern was asked to join the board to discuss her recommendations to the board as to her recommended approach to getting the books in order and keeping them in order without turning over all bookkeeping to an accountant. 

John White described the historic background of the A-O PLD’s accounting and bookkeeping procedures, and he also outlined the goals of the board in initiating this inquiry.

• Review of our present QuickBooks accounting setup;
• Recommend and assist in implementing changes in the organization of accounts, proper data entry and useful report generation; so that the books are kept accurately.
• Train the Library Director in the changes; in accounting procedures.
• Oversee several months of accounting activity, making needed corrections, providing on-going mentoring and overseeing the transition to a more stable system;
• Serve as a resource to the Library Director and the Library Board in the future, so that all can properly fulfill our obligations.

Crystal’s recommendations were:

• Current books are set up as separate companies for each fund and this is not correct and should be changed to a single company. Crystal strongly recommended the need for the books to be fixed and started with good solid numbers.
• Since payroll requires the use of funds from several accounts, Cyndi needs to learn how to make proper reversals of the payroll entries. Currently because these reversals are not being made the payroll account is $5,000 out of balance which results in an overstatement of payroll expenses. The payroll would need to be set up properly to show the breakdown of the salaries, Medicare, social security and state unemployment
• Crystal indicated that she does not have the time to train Cyndi, though she would be willing to consult with Cyndi via email or phone. Crystal indicated that she had 12 years experience and a college degree and was currently doing the accounting for Elkhart Public Library.
• Financial reports that should be available for the board would be monthly Profit & Loss for the balance sheet and Budget vs. Actual expenses.
• Since the first three months of data is incorrect, Crystal recommends redoing the first three months and then reviewing with Cyndi the entries on a monthly basis. She estimated 15-20 hours to setup the first 3 months @ $50/hour, and then $250/month to help Cyndi keep the books up-to-date. She also felt that the support bid would be tiered with the first few months being at a higher cost than later months, as Cyndi becomes familiar with the setup.

John White and the board thanked Crystal for her time and consideration, and at 5 pm he asked Cyndi to bring in Lois A. Lindsey, Accounting Services Manager for May, Cocagne & King. When Cyndi returned with Lois A. Lindsey from May, Cocagne & King, John White again summarized the library’s accounting history since ending services with May, Cocagne & King ten years ago, as well as the goals for the current meeting. 

Lois recommended that if the board was to continue treating the funds as separate companies that Cyndi would need to learn how to make appropriate clearing transactions at the end of the month in order to make the monthly reports consistent for all seven of the companies. 

Lois also indicated that Quickbooks could be setup two different ways: one using different companies for the different funds and generating separate reports for each of the companies and the other consolidating all the funds in the same company but using Quickbooks classes for every expense to break them out into separate fund categories. Cyndi could then use “Due to” and “Due from” to book the expenses and make the bank transfers at the end of the month to zero out and the expense goes to the right fund. 

When asked what would be the reasons for choosing one method over another, Lois indicated that it would be entirely based on how the board wanted to see the financials, as seven separate sets of reports for each fund or as a consolidated report with seven columns. It would also impact on how Cyndi would be taught to make the account entries. 

When asked for her recommendations on how to proceed, Lois indicated that the first month, July 2009 would need to be set up properly and that month could be used as a guideline for Cyndi to make the fixes for the other months. She estimated that to fix the cash and fund balances with 50-60 checks per month that it would probably take 8 hours @ $100 to set up the first month and that they would work with Cyndi on an hourly basis to teach her how to do the “Due to” and “Due from” transactions and act as a resource to Cyndi. The hourly rate for Lois is $100 / hour with Cathy Mansure’s hourly rate being $175 / hour should her services be needed. They also have a staff of four bookkeepers, some of whom had worked with District Libraries and understood the legal obligations for the various funds that District Libraries have. Lois indicated that she would need to run those figures by Cathy Mansure to be sure, but that May, Cocagne & King would be willing to submit a revised proposal based on providing for the initial conversion of the accounts and a monthly consult with Cyndi to keep the accounts balanced. 

John White and the board thanked Lois for her time and consideration. After Lois left, Cyndi was asked how she felt about the two proposals. Cyndi indicated that while she did not understand what was meant by “Due to” and “Due from” that she was confident that if they showed her how to make the transactions that she would be able to do so. She felt that she could work with either of the accountants. 

There was a discussion of whether the board preferred the one company or seven company format. The general opinion was that simple was better and that the accounts should be consolidated to one company. 

At 6:30 p.m. the board went into open session.
 

The board felt that a decision should be made sooner rather than later, so that fewer errors would need to be fixed. Cyndi was asked to approach the parties tomorrow with a request that they submit their amended proposals before the next meeting and that perhaps the board should meet again before the regular meeting in order to get things going. Available dates were discussed with the board deciding that Tuesday, October 13^th at 4:30 p.m. would be the best available date to meet and discuss the revised proposals. Cyndi was asked to post the meeting and contact Crystal and Lois about sending in their revised proposals prior to that date. 

Maria Lightner moved and Roger Jebe seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:40 p.m. The motion passed. 

The next regular board meeting will be October 26^th at Oreana with a special meeting to be held on Tuesday, October 13^th at 4:30 p.m. at Oreana to review the revised accounting proposals.

Respectfully submitted, 

Doris J. McKay, Secretary

Minutes of the

Argenta-Oreana Public Library District

Board of Trustees

September 28, 2009 at Oreana

The meeting was called to order by the Board President, John White at 4:30 pm. Also present were library board members: Hazel DeFore, Marsha Ferguson, Roger Jebe, Maria Lightner, Doris McKay and Dorothy Morsch, as well as the Library Director, Cynthia Bowman. 

Hazel moved and Marsha seconded the motion that the minutes of the regular board meeting of August 24^th be approved and the motion passed. 

Cyndi noted that the library had received last year’s Per Capita grant on September 1^st for $6,662.37. Doris McKay asked why in the June financials on 6/8/2009 there was a deposit for a memorial donation from Avis Heinz deposited, but in the print out of the new account setup for 6/1/2009 - 6/20/2009 handed out at the August 24^th board meeting that there was no such deposit listed? Doris also asked why on August 14^th the bank balance was $48,585.79 after check #6534 and in this month’s bills the balance is $66,147.87, as the corrections that Cyndi indicated at last meeting would not appear to account for this difference. Cyndi indicated that she did not know, but that the entries would be checked. Doris asked about the voided direct deposit for Denise Lanter on August 28^th. Cyndi indicated that an error had been found and the transaction voided prior to making the direct deposit. Doris also asked why the ending balance for the IMRF fund last month was $15,683.94 and the starting balance this month is $15,383.94. Doris also indicated that the ending balance for the Ins & Security fund last month was $82,168.06 in the August board packet and the starting balance this month is $90,310.48. Cyndi indicated that often the fund transfers had been made by the treasure, but were not available prior to the preparation of the preparation of the board packet, which resulted in the changes in the fund balances, but that she had made arrangements with the bank to get this information prior to preparing the board packets so that it should not occur in the future. The motion was made by Dorothy Morsch that the September bills be approved. The motion was seconded by Roger Jebe and passed with ayes from John White, Hazel DeFore, Marsha Ferguson and Roger Jebe. Maria Lightner and Doris McKay abstained. 

Cyndi indicated that she had nothing to report for Librarian’s Report. 

In new business, the board reviewed Levy Ordinance #09-AO-04. Dorothy Morsch moved and Hazel DeFore seconded the Levy Ordinance #09-AO-04. The motion passed with all ayes. The board also reviewed the Truth in Taxation certificate. Hazel DeFore moved and Roger Jebe seconded the approval of the Truth in Taxation certificate. The motion passed with all ayes. 

Also in new business, the board reviewed the proposals for accounting services from Floyd & Associates from Clinton, Crystal M. Kern from Mt Pulaski, and May, Cocagne & King, P.C. from Decatur. After a lengthy discussion regarding the annual costs for accounting services, ranging from $6,300 to $7,800 for one year and the impact this might have on library services, Hazel DeFore suggested that the board pursue an intermediate step by asking for the bids to provide training to Cyndi and support services rather than taking over all the accounting. It was suggested that Crystal Kern and May, Cocagne & King be invited to meet with Cyndi and the board and review the library’s accounting practices with the goal to determine if this might be feasible. John White suggested that if arrangements could be made with both parties that the board would meet for a special meeting on either Monday, October 5^th or Wednesday, October 7^th to discuss with both their recommendations on this possible option. Cyndi was asked to contact the parties and to post the special meeting when the arrangements were made. 

The next regular board meeting will be October 26^th at Oreana. Dorothy Morsch moved and Roger Jebe seconded the motion that the meeting be adjourned at 5:50 pm. The motion passed.

Respectfully submitted,

Doris J. McKay, Secretary