Fiscal Aspects

Size of Budget

Method of Finance

Per Capita and Other States' Comparisons

Budgetary Limitations (Appropriations Riders)

Degree to Which Budget Meets Current and Expected Needs

Agency Benchmarks

A. Size of Budget (trends in expenditures)

Expenditures/Budget FY 1999/FY 2001

B. Method of Finance

Federal funds remain an important component of the agency's revenues at 37 percent. The majority of these funds are granted to regional library systems to improve local public library services. Fees comprise about 7.5 percent of the agency's funding. Gifts and other grants make up less than one percent.

C. Per Capita and Other States' Comparisons

The state contributes a relatively small share to the funding of public libraries. In FY1994, Texas contributed $0.27 per capita for state aid to public libraries, while the national average for state contributions was $1.60 per capita. Texas ranked 35^th among 42 states reporting. Local funding for public libraries in Texas was about 94 percent of the total funding, while state and federal funds made up the remaining 6 percent of the government funding for public libraries. In FY1995, Texas ranked 47 of 51 states reporting total per capita income from all sources.

Based on FY1998 funding and 1998 state population estimates, the Talking Book Program for Texans with disabilities ranks 10^th in per capita spending out of the ten most populous states with similar programs. The national average was $0.21 per capita, with a range of $0.59 to $0.07 for states for which budget information was available. Texas spent $0.07.

Texas ranks 3^rd among the states in total number of state government employees and total general expenditures. However, the state's allocations to archives and records management does not reflect a similar ranking. Texas archives and records management programs rank 29^th in the nation, based on the number of full-time positions for the archives and records management activities when compared to total state government employment. Texas ranks 33^rd in terms of allocations for archives and records management compared to total general expenditures. (Source: Tables 1 and 4, Maintaining State Records in an Era of Change: A National Challenge, Council of State Historical Records Coordinators, January, 1996.)

D. Budgetary Limitations (appropriation riders)

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission's imaging and records storage activities are funded entirely through revenues generated by providing services to state agencies and local governments. These activities are expected to operate as business enterprises; therefore, a revolving fund is necessary to provide operating capital until revenues are generated in a new fiscal year. Without the authority to carry forward unexpended balances, the programs operate with a negative cash flow for at least the first three quarters of each year, and there is inadequate appropriated general revenue against which to borrow during the period. Current legislative authorization should be re-enacted to allow unexpended balances to carry over from the first year of a biennium to the second year of a biennium. Further, at least a portion of any unexpended balances from one biennium should be rolled over to the next to establish operating funds for the first year of the biennium. This will provide operating funds for salaries, the orderly acquisition of operating supplies, and repair of equipment. Current appropriation bill riders must be re-authorized to permit the agency to carry forward funds as needed.

Current Rider #3 (H.B. 1, 76^th Legislature, 1999) should be re-authorized to read:

Unexpended Balances: Imaging and Storage Fees. Any unexpended balances on hand as of August 31, 2002, from fees collected by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission for the purpose of cost recovery of imaging state and local government records on film or electronic storage media, and from state agencies for the storage of state records, as authorized by V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 441.182, are hereby appropriated to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission for the fiscal year beginning September 1, 2002.

Current Rider #7 (H.B. 1, 76^th Legislature, 1999), should be re-authorized to read:

Appropriation Between Biennia for Imaging and Storage Services. Any unexpended balances on hand as of August 31, 2001, not to exceed $500,000, in amounts collected for imaging and records storage services, are hereby appropriated for the same purpose for the biennium beginning September 1, 2001.

E. Degree to Which Budget Meets Current and Expected Needs

The current budget level and staffing authorization cannot sustain existing agency services for a growing customer base. The percentage of Talking Book patrons we serve is expected to decline because funding and staffing levels are not growing as fast as the population. More funding and staffing are especially needed to accession, appraise and store state and local government records. The current budget will not enable the agency to meet customer-expressed needs for new and additional services. In addition, turnover will continue at a high level if significant adjustments to staff compensation levels are not made. Turnover adversely affects the quality and efficiency of service operations.

As the Library and Archives Commission's staff continues to identify newer technologies to preserve documents and information and make them available to the public, the agency's budget available for investment in support of these technologies is increasingly inadequate. It is critical to achieve and maintain a high level of customer service, and failure to proactively and effectively use these technologies can jeopardize the fulfillment of the agency's mission. The agency's infrastructure to support the new technologies includes its internal information resources and its telecommunications capabilities, as well as its physical facility. This infrastructure must be maintained and enhanced to keep pace with the emergence of Web and imaging technologies that enhance document preservation and storage and information access. The wiring in the present facility must be upgraded, and the computer center requires a better emergency cooling system.

Training for technical staff is essential to prepare the agency for technical migrations and the integration of new technologies. Equipment upgrades are also essential to prevent disruptions in service. The delivery of information via the Internet requires increasingly greater funding and staffing than is currently available in the agency's information resources unit.

F. Agency Benchmarks

The outcome measure for Objective A.1, "percent of population living within the service areas of public libraries whose services (circulations per capita) meet or exceed the average of the ten largest states," is essentially a comparative metric. Unfortunately, Texas does not have a high percentage of its population (only about 14.5 percent) served at or above this threshold for public library service.

The outcome measure for Objective A.2, "percent of eligible population registered for Talking Book Program services," reflects the lack of state funding for library services and fewer potential persons served, when compared to other states. A 1999 report of the number of individuals served by the National Library Service program of the Library of Congress provided information to determine the following measure for the ten largest states.

Percent of Eligible Population Served (FY99)

Outcome measure B.1 is "improve information services to state and local government offices, historical and family history researchers, and the public by answering correctly 90 percent of all reference questions received." No reliable source of benchmark information is available for this measure.

To identify a suitable benchmark for Objective C.1, "percent of state agencies administering programs based on approved records schedules," the staff of the State and Local Records Management Division conducted a phone survey in February 2000 of other states with active records management programs. Texas ranked seventh out of twelve reporting states in number of cubic feet of stored records per employee. However, Texas ranked fourth of eight in percentage of state agencies in compliance with program requirements. The agency is not satisfied that these metrics are the best overall benchmark for the State and Local Records Management Division; however, the data are worth studying to identify both areas for improvement and areas of accomplishment. Currently 109 Texas state agencies use the Library and Archives Commission's stack storage or microfilm vault storage services.

State and Local Records Management Division Benchmark Survey FY1999

N/A= Statistics are not gathered on an agency by agency basis.

¹ All agencies must submit destruction requests; however, it is unknown whether all agencies actually submit requests.

² The Records Management Department creates the schedules for the agencies to follow.

³ US Census Data as of March 1998.

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Agency Strategic Plan Table of Contents

Service Population Demographics