Article Summary –
Negotiations between the Great Falls city administration and the Great Falls Public Library are underway to potentially reallocate nearly $1 million from the library’s budget to support public safety services. This comes after the successful passage of a library funding measure in June 2023 and the failure of a significant public safety levy later in the same year. The discussions involve revisiting a 1993 agreement regarding the library’s administrative and financial structure, which has been complicated by rising property taxes and historical underfunding of public safety in the city.
GREAT FALLS — Discussions are ongoing between city officials and the Great Falls Public Library that could change the library’s management and funding.
These talks started in spring, less than a year after voters approved a library funding measure in June 2023. Contrasted with the failed public safety levy later in 2023, this successful campaign influences current discussions.
A potential outcome could see nearly $1 million reallocated from the library’s budget to support public safety services.
“The proposal by the City Commission to renegotiate the library service agreement by reallocating funds undermines the trust that voters placed in us,” Great Falls Public Library Board Chairperson Whitney Olson said in a statement to the Montana Free Press.
City Commission comments earlier this year initiated library negotiations. Commissioner Rick Tryon expressed interest in reallocating existing city budget resources for public safety funding. By April, commissioners decided to reassess the library’s funding and management.
Months of talks followed, involving City Manager Greg Doyon, Commissioners Joe McKenney and Susan Wolfe, City Attorney David Dennis, and Finance Director Melissa Kinzler. Representing the library are Director Susie McIntyre, board members Olson and Anne Bulger, and attorney Bill Bronson. Bronson is also a former city commissioner and current school board trustee.
Discussions have focused on a 1993 agreement outlining the library’s administrative structure, where the library director acts as a department head reporting to the city manager, and a board that can levy taxes. The agreement also established a funding framework with at least seven mills to support the library, which has been its budget foundation for over 30 years.
The library’s funding historically came from several sources including the seven mills from the 1993 agreement and two mills set out in the city charter. Prior to 2023, the library also received a $350,000 subsidy from the city’s general fund.
The 2023 levy campaign changed the charter provision from two mills to 17, doubling the library’s budget to over $3 million and eliminating the $350,000 subsidy. Consequently, the library expanded operations to seven days a week, increased digital offerings and bookmobile service, and restarted homebound services.
With 17 mills now part of the city charter, the seven mills from the 1993 agreement are under negotiation, amounting to about $925,000 based on recent mill values.
“Public safety is indeed a critical issue, and we fully support efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of our community,” Olson’s statement said. “However, we believe that these efforts should not come at the expense of the library’s ability to fulfill its obligations to the voters.”
The seven mills could be redirected towards public safety resources. The library levy’s success is often contrasted with the failure of the public safety levy in late 2023.
“The library levy came up, and the community decided they wanted a vibrant, successful library, and that passed,” McKenney told MTFP. “And then the public safety levy came up, and it was a really big ask.”
The public safety levy, which aimed to raise around $13 million annually, would have funded firefighters, police officers, court resources, building improvements, and equipment. It failed with nearly two-thirds of voters opposing it.
Former Mayor Bob Kelly told the Great Falls Tribune that the timing could not have been worse, as homeowners received higher property tax appraisals around the same time.
The Public Safety Advisory Committee, created after the levy’s failure, suggested reallocating the library’s seven mills toward public safety. These factors continue to influence ongoing library negotiations, which are nearing completion but require city commission approval.
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