The City Commission is scheduled to vote on a new management agreement with the Great Falls Public Library board during their Nov. 19 meeting after months of negotiation.

The library board will consider the agreement during its Nov. 26 meeting.

The city and library board have had a management agreement in place since 1993.

The agreement addresses management and operation of the library and includes a provision that requires the city to provide seven mills to the library. Those mills were in addition to the two mills that voters had approved and were included in the city charter.

City, library reopen negotiations over management agreement, funding

In the current fiscal year, which began July 1, the seven mills through the agreement are projected to generate $842,8000 for the library, or 27 percent of the library’s budget, according to the library.

In recent years, the library board pursued a ballot measure to increase the funding support for the library.

Since the two mills of library funding were in the city charter, city officials opted to send a ballot amendment to the voters in June 2023 to increase that amount from two mills up to 17 mills, rather than a standalone levy.

Timeline: library, public safety levies

During public discussions throughout 2022 at the library board and city commission meetings, officials discussed the library’s funding structure and when commissioners decided to send the question to the ballot, they selected the option proposed by the library board that maintained the seven mills in the management agreement but cut the $350,000 annual subsidy from the general fund.

After voters approved the library funding in June 2023, during a year fraught with election concerns and issues, library officials began implementing the programs and services they’d said the increased funds would provide.

Library board rejects city proposal to cut mills, approves counter proposal

This summer, the library increased operational hours with funding through the levy to be open seven days per week, the first time since 2014, when the library, and other city departments, were cut significantly to adjust for the bankruptcy settlement from the city’s failed Electric City Power venture.

Last winter, Commissioner Rick Tryon said during a city commission meeting that he wanted to consider taking back those seven mills in the management agreement, which was set to renew in April 2024.

Initially, other commissioners didn’t support the move.

Tryon asks to review library management; library board to discuss at Feb. 27 meeting

But by their Feb. 20 meeting, commissioners agreed by consensus to discuss the management agreement with the library board.

Representatives of the city and the library board met in April, June, July and August, resulting in an offer for a five year agreement that would have eliminated the seven mills after two budget years and named the library director as an administrative liaison, removing the position as a city department head.

Susie McIntyre, GFPL director, was name librarian of the year by the Montana Library Association in April.

The city called it their “final” offer, but the library board voted 3-1 to reject the offer during a Sept. 5 special meeting and the city told the library team they’d reopen negotiations.

The negotiating teams met again in October and November and have come to compromise agreement.

Library continuing improvements, management agreement discussion

Under the agreement the commission will consider during their Nov. 19 meeting, the city would provide the full seven mills in the current budget year, which was already budgeted, then for the next four fiscal years, would provide 3.5 mills.

The proposed agreement would also allow the library board to appoint the library director and set the director’s salary, which is not the current practice. The director would report to the board and be responsible for the management of the library and execution of library policies as set by the board.

In recent years, it’s been a complication of the existing arrangement as the library director reports to the library board and the city manager as a department head.

City officials continuing discussion on public safety poll, levy

Under the proposed agreement, the library director would be the administrative liaison to the city manager’s office.

The proposed agreement also maintains city services such as human resources, payroll, finance, accounting and other services under the same internal service charge structure that applies to other city departments and currently exists for the library. The library, like other city departments, pays internal service charges for those services.

Library employees will also remain as city employees under the proposed agreement.

The proposed agreement would expire June 30, 2029 and could be extended for successive one-year renewal terms only upon mutual written agreement of the parties prior to the expiration of the original term or any renewal term. Either party may request a review of the agreement prior to the end of the original term or any renewal term, according to the city.

City’s public safety committee sends recommendations to commission

In December 2022, Susie McIntyre, library director, presented a levy option that cut the $350,000 general fund subsidy, which has since been eliminated, but maintained the seven mills under the management agreement. In that presentation, the library projected it would need $2,272,600, according to the city.

City officials wrote in their staff report that the projected financial impact of the proposed management agreement “shows revenues for the term of the agreement would allow for the sustainment of the budget presented by the library during the mill levy presentations for the expanded services.”

In an October 2022 commission work session, McIntyre said during that meeting that if they kept all existing funding, they’d ask for about 10 mills.

If they lost the general fund subsidy, they’d ask for about 13.5 mills.

City Commission approves tax increase, budget

She told commissioners that if they wanted to renegotiate the 1993 agreement and take away the seven mills, “we would have to ask for $2 million” or about 20 mills.

City staff wrote in their staff report that the 3.5 mills reclaimed from existing management agreement would be used to support public safety, but the specific use would be decided during the budget process for the next fiscal year.

In November 2023, voters rejected a $13 million public safety levy and a $21 million public safety infrastructure bond.

The library said in a release that the 3.5 mills equate to about $420,000 annually for the next four budget years.

In the current budget that commissioners adopted in July, the police budget is $17,612,949 and the fire budget is $11,575,536 for a combined public safety budget of $29,188,485.

Public safety committee continuing discussion of city’s funding options, needs

The city is projecting $26,018,186 in tax revenue for the general fund, leaving a $3,170,299 shortfall between property tax revenue and those two budgets alone, according to city officials.

The library’s budget this year is $3,161,675, according to library data.

The proposed library management agreement reducing funding support by 3.5 mills, coupled with the eliminated general fund subsidy for the library equates to about $770,000 annually.

During this year’s budget process, Great Falls Fire Rescue asked for $217,614 in additional funding for a new deputy fire marshal and associated office costs, certification pay for two additional paramedics, a 10 percent market adjustment for administrative staff to address compression issues, office furniture to replace hand me downs, a concrete pad for burn cells at the training center and proximity dispatching.

City takes first look at proposed budget, mayor floats idea of public safety levy [2019]

The city manager’s budget proposal, and the budget adopted by commissioners, did not fund those requests.

The Great Falls Police Department requested $386,874 in additional funding to include three sworn officers for the investigations bureau and associated training and equipment costs for $346,588.

The city manager’s proposed budget adopted by commissioners did not fund those requests, but funded $40,286 for recruiting and increasing costs for the state law enforcement academy tuition costs, additional funds for towing of abandoned and recreational vehicles, more funding for an online investigative tool, and additional funds for travel for training needed due to turnover.

Those GFFR and GFPD requests that weren’t funded in the current city budget total $951,076.

Great Falls Public Library to open seven days a week in June, for first time since 2014

In a release, McIntyre said that, “a healthy community has an excellent library, great parks, solid public works, wonderful schools, and a robust public safety system. We appreciate the city has to fund an array of community needs, and throughout this negotiation, we tried to be a good partner to help the city with its budget shortfalls without sacrificing too many of the promises made from the levy.”

McIntyre said the reduction of mills in the proposed management agreement represents about half of the library levy dollars.