Securing Revenue and Managing Financial Operations in an Expanding Organization

The Pike County Public Library (PCPL) sought to address the competing challenges of increased usage and insufficient capacity at its main branch and two satellite branches. Unable to meet the needs of the county's 60,000 residents, the PCPL has begun the process of building a new state-of-the-art headquarters facility with the goal of increasing capacity and expanding its programs. The Capstone team worked with the PCPL to identify a new and stable funding source that will help ensure the long-term sustainability of the PCPL, specifically a dedicated countywide library tax imposed by referendum. After examining the PCPL financial operations and researching library tax referenda results from other Pennsylvania counties, the Capstone team prepared a primer on planning for a referendum campaign, a case study of past referenda, a series of projected PCPL operating budgets based on varying revenue and expense forecasts, and an analysis of a public opinion survey about the library and a potential tax.