Hudson Area Library Fixes Critical Error in Annual Report

The Public Library Annual Report seems like just another dull bureaucratic document that outlines basic information about a government institution. And it is. Known as Form PI-2401, it is required homework for libraries assigned by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

One simple error on that form over the years has led to among the four member municipalities: the , the , the and the .

Hiding in the corner in Box 10 of Page 3 is a simple question asking "Did your library's municipality exempt itself from the county library tax for 2011 Wis. Stats. s.43.64(2)?" The box was marked "Yes" when it should have been marked "No."

The same error initially was made on the library's 2012 report, but was corrected on March 13 (see image). The document (attached) was signed by Hudson Area Joint Library Board President Barbara J. Peterson and Library Director Linda Donaldson on Feb. 13, 2012. The correction was made and initialed by both women a month later on March 13, 2012. Though the form was filed before the March 1 deadline, the correction is being forwarded to the state, according to Donaldson.

This is the first year in recent memory that the oversight has been noticed and corrected.

"I've been here since 2003, and it's been that way all along," Donaldson said. "It's an oversight by a lot of people. There used to be someone down in Madison who would interpret that from the annual reports, but that hasn't been done for years."

Over the past few years, has raised the funding level required for an exemption on the county library tax from 70 percent in 2009, to 85 percent in 2010, to 100 percent in 2011. That has made the tax exemption more important than ever for the library partner municipalities. That raising of the tax exemption threshold, combined with the correction of the error on the form, has resulted in the recent scramble by municipal boards to determine how to fund the library going forward.

"I've talked to some other library heads and they, too, did not realize the impact of that statement," Donaldson said. "At the same time, I'm finding out there really isn't a designated person to regulate that question on the report."

Donaldson aknowledges the error and long-term oversight, but says it's in the past and urges the community to look ahead.

"It's a fair question to ask, 'How did this happen, and where did it start?'" Donaldson said. "It was a problem in the past, but let's move forward. We're going to have to find a resolution and we're going to have to stop pointing fingers."