Center, Tina Scott, James Prendergast Library executive director, discussing library finances with Jamestown City Council Monday. The proposed 2017 city budget will cut library funding by 71 percent. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

Tina Scott, James Prendergast Library executive director, didn’t mince words when discussing the impact the $250,000 cut in city financing will have on library operations next year.

On Monday, local agencies that receive financing from the city budget were invited to discuss their funding with Jamestown City Council. Scott said the proposed $250,000 cut to $100,000 in the 2017 executive budget is “close to Armageddon” for the library. She said the $350,000 the library received from the city in 2016 accounted for about a third of their $1.1 million budget.

“This cut will trigger a whole domino effect,” she said.

Scott said the reduction in city funding will impact how much the library will receive from the state. She said it will be difficult for the library to remain open for 55 hours a week next year with their current financial outlook. She said to be considered a central library system by the state, the James Prendergast Library needs to be open for 55 hours a week. If the library isn’t opened long enough to be a central library, Scott said they will lose $75,000 in state aid and a portion of $27,000, of which the James Prendergast Library receives $18,000, that they share with the Olean Public Library.

Library officials have been working to find other sources of revenue, Scott said. Earlier this year, there was a public vote to fund the library $850,000 annually. In June, 60 percent of voters in the Jamestown Public Schools District turned down the library’s funding initiative.

In August, library officials approved offering a retirement incentive to three employees. In September, R. Thomas Rankin, James Prendergast Library Board of Trustees president, said their goal is to save around $100,000 next year through the retirement incentive.