The Sioux City Public Library system will see its budget cut by $100,000 next year, as it withstood proposals over the last few weeks to have its budget cut by 25 percent.
At the 5-hour hour mark of a long Sioux City Council budget wrap up meeting wednesday , the council voted to cut the library budget from the proposed $3.8 million by $100,000.
Back a few weeks ago, Mayor Bob Scott said perhaps the library coil;d be cut by $300,000 while Councilman Rick Bertrand wondered about a $1 million cut.
The Sioux City Public Library Board of Trustees in a March 13 press conference offered a cut of $100,000.
That was the amount that the council ultimately pared away for fiscal year 2027 in the Wednesday meeting. That is an amount that will allow the library not to have to close branches or cut employees.
Bertrand was among those voting 5-0 for that cut. He said people need to know that the library budget makes up 6 percent of the city property taxes in the budget.
Library Director Helen Rigdon is retiring in about a month, and Bertrand added that the next director needs to recognize “that change is in the air” concerning how the library system may function.
As that agenda item ended, Bertrand then referenced how other city department directors had had to explain their proposed budgets earlier in the meeting,
He offered advice to the city parks director who was in the back of the room — “Throw yourself on the ground and throw a tantrum,” and will get the budget amount desired.
That caused a stir in the meeting, as Library board member Jim Wharton clapped back at Bertrand that his comment was out of bounds.
Earlier in the meeting, Wharton said recent weeks showed there are many passionate supporters of the library .
