Significant pay raise approved for Deschutes Public Library Director Todd Dunkelberg

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)-- In a unanimous decision earlier this year, the Deschutes Public Library Board approved a nearly 20% pay increase for library Director Todd Dunkelberg.

Next, budget year, starting July 1, Dunkelberg's salary goes from $170,000 to almost $200,000 a year.

"The pay gap (to others in similar roles elsewhere) has gone up so much," board member Ann Malkin explained Monday, "This year was an unusually large cost of living increase, so it's going to show up in those pay numbers."

According to the board, Dunkelberg, who's been director for 15 years, has not taken a pay increase for seven years, repeatedly denying one when offered.

But some library patrons, like Steve Freitas, say they want the board to consider other uses for taxpayer money.

"I'd rather see that money going to buy more books, to increase in resources and facilities for Central Oregon, for all of us, rather than seeing some person who's already getting paid $160,000 - $200,000, that's a big step," Freitas said.

The board says the increase was determined by comparing the salary for directors in other parts of the state

Malkin said, "There were two different measures that were used when our HR director provided that information to us, and one indicated a pay midpoint of about $200,000. The other indicated a midpoint of about $300,000, depending on longevity."

Along with the director's salary increase, the county's 22 librarians will get a 4% increase in pay, to $82,000 annually.

Asked about his pay raise, the library director says his role has expanded in a series of voter-approved construction and upgrade projects, as work continues on libraries in Sunriver and Redmond and two more major projects still on tap.

"Kind of a new piece is also overseeing some major building projects that are happening," Dunkelberg said. "And that's not a typical part of my job, usually, but it has been for the last five years."

And it's not over yet. Ground was broken Monday on the new Central Library at Stevens Ranch, to be followed by a significant renovation project at the downtown Bend library. More details on the projects completed, underway and to come at: https://www.deschuteslibrary.org/futurelibraries/