City Commissioner Rick Tryon has again asked to revisit the 1993 management agreement between the city and the Great Falls Public Library board.
In January, he suggested discussing the agreement to take some of its included seven mills for the library away to direct toward public safety.
No other commissioner expressed support.
For the current budget, library staff estimates the tax revenue from those seven mills as $838,809.69, or 24 percent of their expected revenue this year.
Tryon renews proposal to review library management agreement; lacks support from other commissioners
The agreement requires 90-days notice from either party to terminate before its annual renewal date of April 20.
At a subsequent meeting, he asked to schedule a special commission meeting for Jan. 19 and to direct staff to draft a resolution for consideration that would give the library 90 days notice of the city’s intent to opt out of the agreement.
“The intention is not to strip the seven mills from the library agreement,” Tryon said in January. “It’s a chance to give everyone a 90-day period to look at and review the 1993 agreement between the library board and the city.”
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He said the special meeting would be a chance to consider terminating the agreement and then spend the 90 days drafting a new or amended agreement, or keep the same agreement.
Other commissioners again didn’t support the move, though several said they should discuss the agreement.
The first library was established in Great Falls in 1890 and the city assumed operation of the library in 1892, according to city code.
In accordance with a 1910 ordinance and state law, “a free public library remains operational to this day,” according to city code.
Commissioners last updated city code pertaining to the library in 2017.
During the Jan. 16 meeting, Mayor Cory Reeves said he’d heard rumors that the library board wants to separate from the city but didn’t know if there was any truth to it.
There had been no indication that the library wants to make such a substantial change during any library board meetings over the last two years or from staff.
At the Feb. 6 meeting, Library Board Chair Whitney Olson said addressed the rumors Reeves had shared during the previous meeting.
She said the library board was not looking to separate from the city.
She said that as the library was exploring funding options before settling on the levy approved by voters last June, they had discussed the creation of independent library district with both city and county officials.
That ideas was rejected and both the City Commission and the library board agreed to remain a city library, which also serves the county.
Since Tryon had suggested reviewing the 1993 management agreement, Olson said there had been more discussion about library operations and funding.
Olson said that she and Susie McIntyre, library director, had met with City Manger Greg Doyon, Deputy City Manager Chuck Anderson and Finance Director Melissa Kinzler to discuss tax revenue.
She said that during that conversation, they also discussed issues that would come from terminating the agreement, including what happens with the employees, who are all city employees included in a collective bargaining agreement; the building and property, which all belong to the city; city code and state laws governing libraries.
Olson said that if that discussion had turned into the “scuttlebutt” that the library wanted to separate, she said Doyon had done the commission, library and citizens a disservice and that everyone needed better than rumors and innuendo.
During that meeting, Doyon said it was clear there was some friction between him and the library board, putting the library director in a tough spot and it was good to acknowledge that she reports to both the library board and the city manager.
To address some of it, he said that the library board could comply with the agreement and give the required annual report to the commission.
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The 1993 agreement doesn’t include such a requirement.
City code requires that the library board “keep a record of its transactions, and shall make a report to the City Commission at least once each calendar year, addressing the business transacted during that year.”
McIntyre told The Electric that in practice, the library board delegated that duty to her and that during her tenure she believes she’s provided a report in the form of a work session presentation and least once a year, with the possible exception of the year of COVID.
She said the she represents the library and participates in all commission budge sessions and the commission sees the library budget and audit numbers as part of the annual budget and audit processes.
During their Feb. 20 commission meeting, Tryon asked commissioners for a consensus to enter formal discussions on the 1993 management agreement.
He said it’s outdated and wants to discuss it to make a better arrangement for all parties involved.
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Commissioner Joe McKenney said the agreement is “ancient history” and that “the library has exciting goals for increased services and a remodel,” and that the community approved increased funding for the library in June 2023.
“We know how hard it is for folks to approve a tax increase,” he said, which was indicative that the community wants an exciting and modern library.
The current 1993 agreement doesn’t meet needs to bring the library forward, McKenney said, so it seemed appropriate to review the agreement.
Tryon said times have changed and everything is on the table.
Commissioner Shannon Wilson said that she didn’t have a problem with reviewing the agreement but was not inclined to go against the will of the voters on the library or any other issues.
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Commissioner Susan Wolff said she wanted to know what the discussion process would look like and who would be involved.
She said it could give the library board a chance to also say what adjustments they’d like, but “I’m not inclined to have any kind of gotcha conversations or decisions.”
Wolff said it could be an opportunity to craft an agreement that better reflects the goals and vision since the library completed its master plan process a few years ago.
Doyon said the first question was whether the library board was interested in having a conversation.
McIntyre said that the library board meets Feb. 27 and recommended that they amend their agenda to discuss the potential agreement review during that meeting.
On Feb. 21, the library posted a revised agenda with discussion of the library management agreement.
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In the updated library board meeting packet, staff wrote that, “termination of the agreement would not only have a significant, negative impact on the library’s budget but would also leave many unanswered questions regarding
the relationship between the library and the city including personnel and financial policies. Based on statements by the commission, there is a risk that if the agreement is not renegotiated it risks being terminated next year.”
In the library board packet, staff wrote, “the City Commission has the right to terminate or renegotiate the management agreement with the library. The City Commission also has the responsibility to respect the will of the voters, even if individual commissioners disagree with their decisions. In December of 2022, the library came to the commission to request that a library levy be put on the ballot. We presented several scenarios for how many mills to request. We asked the Commission to support ballot language that would create enough revenue for the library to hire new staff in order to provide expanded library services. The library proposed that the revenue package include the existing two voted mills, the seven city mills designated to the library by the management agreement and 15 additional
mills. At that time, the commission gave feedback that they supported that revenue package.”
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Library staff is recommending that the library board hire legal counsel for the negotiations as the management agreement is a legal contract and the city attorney will be advising the commission so it’s not appropriate for him to provide legal advice to the library board during this negotiation.
The agreement is “one of the governing documents that defines the relationship between the City of Great Falls and the Library Board. Renegotiation of the agreement will impact the management and funding of the library far into the
future. It is essential that any new agreement align with the other governing documents, follow the voted will of the community to fund expanded library services and create a structure that allows the library to provide excellent service,” staff wrote in the board packet.
There may be a cost to hiring outside counsel, but failure to reach an agreement could also have a significant financial impact for the library, according to staff.
