Carbondale officials say they have found surplus money within the Carbondale Public Library’s budget to fund through the fiscal year without cutting services. However, a library and a state official say the money is not surplus and is controlled by state law.

City Manager Jeff Doherty said Wednesday he would not comment on the library funding issue. He said he has had more meetings on the subject and will comment in the future.

Previously, Doherty had said the library will have $181,490 left over at the end of fiscal year 1996 and $178,000 at the end of fiscal year 1997. He said this money is surplus and can be used to fund the library and avoid cuts in library services.

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Connie Steudel, Carbondale Public Library director, said the money Doherty spoke of is earmarked for specific expenses and is not surplus.

She said the Illinois Local Library Act dictates how the library’s money can be spent. She said she cannot ask the Library Board of Trustees to shift the money to the general fund, which would allow them to use the money for anything the library wished, because it would violate the law.

The Carbondale Public Library requested $58,000 Feb. 6 from the City Council in addition to a 3-percent increase for its fiscal year 1997 budget. Library officials said if they do not receive the money, they will have to reduce services and possibly cut jobs.

The Council denied the library the money because of uncertainty with the funding of an Amtrak Carbondale train route.

Steudel said Doherty and Paul Sorgen, Carbondale finance director, found the money in the library’s budget and called it surplus.

Steudel said the money is actually working cash funds, the computer funds and the building funds. According to the law, building funds are for repairs only, and the computer funds are to keep up with current technologies, she said.

The state statute is clear on what you can do with capital expenditures, such as the building funds and the computer funds, she said. They cannot be used to pay workers’ salaries.

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Steudel said working cash funds are for the payment of salaries and bills during a gap in funding. According to the law, the funds must be replaced later. She said these are not surplus funds because they need to be replaced.

Steudel said the city asked her to place those funds, totaling $181,490, into the library’s general fund.

Dave Urbanek, Secretary of State George Ryan’s spokesman, said the city could not require the library to move the specialized funds the computer funds or the building funds to the general fund.

They could use the working cash funds for general purposes, but they would have to replace the money later, he said.

Steudel said neither the city officials nor the library wants to raise taxes, and that is why the library requested the $58,000.

Mayor Dillard told us to file for the grant from the city’s general fund, she said. The mayor did not want to raise taxes, and he said this was a way to get the money we needed.

Steudel said she did not even know the funding was on the City Council budget on Feb. 6. She said library officials were surprised when it was turned down because it was Dillard’s suggestion.

Steudel said she does not understand the position of the city. She said she thinks the library service is vital to the community and is being overlooked by the city.

She said the library has more than 11,000 visitors in a month and has handled more than 12,000 items for inter-library loans in the last 8 months.

Mayor Neil Dillard was unavailable for comment Wednesday.