Cascade County Commissioners met Aug. 11 with MSU Extension officials to discuss their funding agreements.

Commissioners have made no cuts to Extension funding so far and, in July, renewed a lease with Great Falls Public Schools for office space for the Extension agents.

Commissioner Joe Briggs has raised concerns for years about the funding structure between the county and MSU Extension, which he says are critical now as the county is facing a budget deficit.

During the meeting, Briggs told Cody Stone, MSU Extension’s executive director, who attended the meeting, that this was an “ongoing issue” and that in the past Extension leadership hadn’t been receptive to the county’s concerns.

“It’s a very poor partnership. We have hit the place we can’t afford it,” Briggs said.

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He said the county budget, as of Aug. 11, had a $14.5 million deficit and Extension “is something we can adjust.”

The county budget has not yet been finalized. Commissioners are scheduled to vote on their final budget on Sept. 3.

Later in the meeting, Commissioner Eric Hinebauch said it was premature to say the deficit was so large.

Briggs has raised similar concerns over county funding for libraries, museums and programs within the City-County Health Department that the county isn’t legally required to provide.

The county has made substantial cuts to CCHD over the last two years, but not yet made decisions regarding library and museum funding.

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Briggs said the county is under no legal obligation to fund Extension and it’s “extraordinarily clear” in the applicable laws that it’s optional for the county.

He said he reviewed federal laws, including the Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862,  Smith-Lever Act of 1914, and other federal legislation, which indicated a clear trend of the state being obligated to provide Extension services in exchange for receiving land grant money.

The Smith-Lever Act mentions the potential for partnerships, Briggs said, but doesn’t require it of counties.

Briggs said the local agreement is problematic in that MSU Extension sets the rules and expects the county to pay for a portion with limited control.

Tracy Mosley, MSU Extension’s central region department head, said that for as long as she’s been in her position, she stresses to the counties and agents to talk with each other about direction and meeting needs and expectations.

She said it’s more of a dialogue and “I just wish it was more here.”

A frustration for Briggs is that that the county is paying a chunk of Extension agent salaries and the county is billed for a portion of unused vacation and sick time when an extension agent retires.

“Your agents make more money than our department heads,” Briggs said. “Your agents are not our employees; they should not be our employees.”

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He said the county has caps on accrued unused vacation or sick time and is aware of those numbers for budgeting purposes, but doesn’t have the information for the Extension agents, so are unable to budget for those costs.

Mosley said they also have caps on those accruals and track those numbers.

Stone said that Extension agent salaries aren’t based on those of professors at MSU, and that the two-thirds of a clerk and recorder’s salary, as currently calculated in the county’s Extension contract, was an effort to ensure equity across counties. He said some counties opt for a salary cap in their contracts since there’s variation across county salary schedules.

Stone said they were open to discussing how many Extension agents the Cascade County office should have, but believed that three was the right fit for the county’s size.

Briggs again raised his frustration that he would prefer Extension move their offices into space already owned by the county and commissioners mentioned a large portion of the former DES building near the fairgrounds was currently vacant.

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Mosley said that in the past, they didn’t understand the value of that move, to which Briggs responded that it would reduce the county’s payments to outside entities.

Currently, the county is leasing space in Great Falls Early Learning Family Center/Skyline School at 3300 3rd St. N.E..

Commissioners approved a two-year lease in June that runs through June 30, 2028 with an annual payment of $28,360 in monthly installments of $2,348.

Hinebauch said he thought it best that Extension stay put at its current location until a better option was identified.

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Commissioner Jim Larson said he agreed, but that the county could be looking at other buildings, and the GFPS lease could be canceled with appropriate notice, as an alternative space could potentially save the county money.

Jennifer Volkmar, Cascade County Extension’s 4-H and youth development agent, said they’d had conversations previously about using the DES space, but the agents had concerns about ADA accessibility.

Larson said that perhaps Extension could help the county to complete ADA upgrades to the former DES building so it would suit both their needs.

Stone, the MSU Extension director, said the agency’s funding is about 32 percent from the Montana Legislature, about 32 percent from counties and tribal entities, about 23 percent from federal appropriations and about 13 percent from gifts, grants and contracts.

He said the federal contribution has been stagnant and through the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, they’ve been lobbying Congress for additional funding.

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Larson said that the county would like MSU Extension to carry more of the financial burden for the local services since the county financial picture is “not good” currently.

Briggs said the county was paying about $225,000 to $230,000 annually toward Extension and “it all adds up.”

Removing the vacant administrative position from the budget recently helped the county financially by reducing the county’s share to $199,707.20 for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

It also removed the conflict caused by state employees effectively managing a county employee.

Hinebauch said he agreed with Briggs on the issues created by having the administrative position as a county position and said he’d support restoring the position if it was an MSU employee.

Briggs said that his concerns over funding and the management structure weren’t related to the services Extension provides the community, but said many local citizens don’t interface with the agency.

He said that every session, the Montana Legislature beats up local governments, claiming counties and cities spend too much money, leaving them with fewer resources to provide services.

Mosley said the county’s concern made sense and they could review it with their human resources and review union implications.

Larson said county attorneys had previously drafted proposed contract amendments that were rejected by the state and told Stone that they’d like a little more help in that regard.

Stone said they were open to changes, but it would be challenging for MSU Extension to have different contracts with each county, so maybe they could adjust the template contract.

Mosley said she understands the county’s financial constraints but was hopeful they could continue their partnership to serve the community.

Briggs said he appreciated the conversation, but “I wish I had higher expectations of something coming from it.”

Hinebauch said it was a good partnership that is valuable to the community and he’s committed to maintaining the program for the next year, though more discussions about funding may be needed.

Larson said he’s also a proponent of Extension and 4H and “we’ll have to just find a way.”