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The borough council listened attentively Thursday night as Somerset County Library Director Brian Auger answered the questions it sent him about library funding, marketing and activities, both for the county system in general and the Watchung library specifically.

Auger made it clear that as an appointed county official, he was respectfully declining to answer any questions that might support one side or the other in the decades-long debate about what Watchung needs to do to bring its library building up to date. Rather, he tried to give the council a broad context, built with specific information, to help it decide what to do.

Auger began by explaining the Supplemental Funding Program that was created by the Somerset Library Commission in 2012. Although 15 communities participate in the Somerset County Library System, only 10 communities have branch buildings that their towns' taxpayers support.

RELATED: Watchung $2M library compromise doesn't end debate

Throughout the system, the municipalities that have buildings pay for the utilities, custodial services and upkeep of the branch library buildings while the library system pays for the books, staffing, data ports and any other library services. Auger said that in 2004, the system told all branches to keep any overdue fines they collect to offset the expenses of maintaining those buildings. But in 2012, the library commission wanted to do more. It tried to find a way to levy taxes so that towns that pay for a building don't necessarily have to pay as much for the library services, but under New Jersey law, it could not. they It insteadraised the tax rate, creating a pool of money that over three years now is $200,000 annually. That money is divided among the 10 communities that maintain branches, based on the square footage of the communities' library buildings. Watchung, with the county's second-smallest library building, gets about $6,000.

To give the council a fuller understanding of what the county system gives Watchung, Auger presented a Value of Services report that concluded Watchung receives about $1.2 million in services through its library. He said that for every dollar that Watchung residents invest in the system through their library tax, they get $1.79 back.

RELATED: Petitioners favor new Watchung Library

He also said that in 2013, the Watchung library offered 649 programs to members of the library system. Most of these programs were provided by paid outsiders. He explained to the staff that in order to avoid cutting staff or materials acquisitions, they were going to have to cut programs from paid outsiders.

"They were offering about 2.62 programs per day, which is a very high figure," Auger said.

Some of the council members raised a question about how Watchung, a small town of 6,000, is paying as much or more in library taxes as towns that are much larger. The reason is that the library tax is levied proportionally on all county taxpayers as a portion of their property tax, with Watchung homes assessed higher than many other towns. The council members such as Stephen Black and Robert Gibbs repeatedly stressed this is unfair, while Thomas Franklin said determining the distribution of supplemental funding based on the square footage of the library buildings is unfair.

RELATED: Check it out: Facts in Watchung library debate

It was clear in the discussion with Auger and afterward that the council has considered the possibility of leaving the county library system for a few years in order to fund the renovations and expansion of the present library building. Auger believes that what Watchung was proposing would not save the borough money because state law would require the borough to provide library services for its residents if they pull out of the county system.

After Auger left, the council listened to public comments. Residents continue to express concerns about the council's July decision to modernize the present library building, which was built as a private residents and does not meet current codes for a public building.

Council President William Nehls insisted that the vote last July to renovate the existing library building was firm and that any plan going forward will do that. Mayor Pote expressed the hope that after the architect's report and design, the borough will have a better idea about what is the best way to go forward.

No decisions about the library were taken at the meeting.

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