Memorandums of Agreement

If you were an existing library either under the city or county you will need to work with that entity to ensure a smooth transfer of property, staff, and other library assets. You will also need to work with one of these entities to determine how the district will be funded during the time after the existing funding runs out and before the newly levied mills are collected from tax payers and available to fund the library district. It is helpful to have an attorney review these documents. An attorney can also assist with the process of transferring assets from the city or county to the library district.

Identify how much money the district will need to operate in the first six months to a year. If you are an existing library who has been receiving mills it might make sense to ask for the mills you would have received if you had remained a city or county library. These mills probably have already been collected and could be used to fund the library. In the best case scenario you would operate as a city or county library until you have started receiving mills from the district levy. This gives you time to transition into being a district library.

Identify all physical assets that do or should belong to the library and need to be transferred to the new district library - building, contents, equipment, automobiles (if applicable). When you are making a list of physical assets it would be good to know the value of each asset. This information will be useful when the district is setting up the accounting. This process could be tricky because technically the board owns the property in the name of the city or county. Transfers often go smoothly, but this is a grey area.

Identify all staff positions that need to be transferred from the existing city or county to the new library district. Be sure to include annual leave, sick leave, any health insurance benefits/costs that need to be transferred, and any other benefits such as retirement that also need to be transferred. The new district board needs to agree to assume the cost of funding these items. It is important to find out how much it will cost to transfer the staff to the new district. The board will need to include this amount in its budget.

Identify all liquid assets that need to be transferred - cash in library account, library depreciation fund monies, and any investments the library may have.

See North Lake County Library District's MOU for an example of a MOU.

See the Sample Memorandum of Agreement with City from the Public Library District Handbook for another example.