The Great Falls Public Library board is pursuing an operational levy.

The board voted unanimously during their Sept. 27 meeting to direct the library director to begin preparing for sending a library mill levy to the ballot.

Library staff has not yet determined when they will send the levy to the ballot and are developing those plans.

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Susie MyIntyre, library director, said she’s meeting with city and county officials to determine the timing and amount of the levy, but are looking at for a total budget of $2.5 million.

If the library maintains its current funding of about $1.5 million, for a city levy they’d ask for about $995,000, McIntyre said.

If they go for a county-wide ballot, it would likely be more since the Wedsworth Memorial and Belt libraries would also be included.

McIntyre said she wasn’t sure whether those libraries, with their own boards, would want to be included or for how much and how funding would be distributed amongst the three public libraries in Cascade County.

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Initially, staff had planned to send the levy to the November 2023 ballot but indications are that the city will likely put a public safety levy on that ballot and McIntyre said she’d been advised not to try to compete with another levy since voters often pick one versus the other.

There was also consideration of waiting until the spring of 2024, but McIntyre said there was some concern the school district might go for a levy on that ballot.

Now, staff is considering a spring 2023 ballot for the levy.

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The city or county commission could vote to send the levy to the ballot, but if they decline, McIntyre said they’d need to gather signatures and petition to add the levy to the ballot. Those signatures would be due by January, she told the board.

McIntyre said she thought the city commission would be willing to put the levy on the ballot, but felt that a majority of county commissioners would not and they’d need to do a petition.

The library has conducted a master plan, which includes a complete remodel of the existing building, which is an estimated $15 million project, according to the consultants who presented the plans during the Sept. 27 meeting.

The library is also looking at a capital campaign for the improvements, but is not currently considering a facilities bond for the improvement project, McIntyre told the board.

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McIntyre said the library needs to increase staffing in order to continue providing services and without additional funding, they’d likely have to start cutting services or reduce hours that the library is open.

The Great Falls community funds the library at $19 per capita, but average support for Montana libraries is $31 per capital, according to the library.

With a county population of 84,511, a $31 per capita funding rate would be library funding at $2.6 million.

The current operational budget $1.5 million.

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In the current budget, personnel costs increased by $84,332.52 and the tax revenue increase was $19,677.10, according to library data.

The library is projecting a $59,969 deficit in this budget year.

If revenue and costs continue on the same trajectory, the library will have about a $120,000 deficit in the next budget year or require “severe cuts in services including layoffs and reduced hours,” according to the library.

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The library currently receives two mills of funding that voters approved, which in this budget, equates to $199,105.56.

The library also has an agreement with the city to provide another seven mills, which is $696,869.44 in this budget.

The city also funds the library another $350,000 from the general fund.

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The county funds the library through an agreement for $177,000 annually.

The library received $32,075 in this budget from the state and raised $55,100 in charges for services and fundraising.

The Great Falls Library Foundation provided $254,532 for materials, programming and technology resources. The foundation funds cannot be used for staffing, capital improvements or general operations.