Opinion by JENI DODD
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Tuesday’s Great Falls City Commission meeting highlighted one glaring truth — quite a few proponents for maintaining the 7 mills for the Great Falls Public Library under a 1993 Agreement between the city and the Great Public Library Board seem to be under the misconception that they voted for those mills at last year’s library levy election.
Many commenters who spoke out in favor of the library keeping the 7 mills are either members of, or associated with, the local “progressive” group Great Falls Rising, who put out the call to action by email and on their Facebook page.
They came en masse and opined that if the city reclaimed the 7 mills for city needs, it would negate their votes and/or subvert the will of the people, even though the 7 mills was not on the ballot. One of those commenters was Alice Klundt, who stated, “the people of Great Falls voted in a good democratic manner, that this is what they wanted, that this was the mill levy that they wanted the library to have…”
Funny how Klundt and some of the others who expressed those sentiments at the city commission meeting also demanded back in December 2023 that the Cascade County Commissioners negate votes and subvert the will of the people in order to remove election duties from Sandra Merchant, the duly elected Cascade County Clerk, Recorder and Elections Officer.
But Klundt and the others misspoke — the 7 mills were never put to the electors for a vote. Last year's library levy ballot language was as follows:
Shall the City of Great Falls be authorized to amend Article I, Section 3 of the Charter of the City of Great Falls to levy up to 17 mills, an increase of 15 mills, raising approximately $1,594,500 for the purpose of providing funds for the operation, maintenance and capital needs of the Great Falls Public Library.
No mention of the 7 existing mills by agreement, which likely misled some voters into thinking the library would get up to 17 mills — total — not potentially 24 total mills that the library actually received. I remember distinctly that a number of voters I talked to had no idea about the 1993 Agreement, probably because prior city commissions basically rubber-stamped it each year by allowing it to renew automatically.
The agreement between the city and the library board for 7 mills was approved by the city commission, not voters, on June 1, 1993 and is subject to non-renewal each year by either party, if written notice is given at least 90 days before the anniversary date. It was never an agreement for funding every year in perpetuity. Hence, there should be no expectation that the city fund the library with 7 mills each year.
City and library board negotiating teams have been meeting for about four months over the fate of the 7 mills. After the city’s public safety levies failed last year, at least one commissioner brought up the idea of putting the 7 mills back into the city general fund for city needs, and in particular, for public safety. The majority of the city’s Public Safety Advisory Committee also recommended reallocating those 7 mills for public safety needs.
The city’s negotiating team has proposed in their “last, best, final” offer that the 7 mills by agreement to the library be reduced to 3.5 mills for the next two years and then to zero. The proposal also names the library director as an administrative liaison rather than a city department head.
To be clear, the library would still get up to 17 mills — the 15 mills voted on in 2023 and the 2 voted-on mills that existed from a prior election.
The library negotiation team, on the other hands, wants this:
The City Commission agrees to levy the full number of mills allowed in the City Charter unless the Library Board requests a lower number of mills in the budget proposal. In addition to that funding authorized by the Great Falls City Charter, the City agrees to support the library budget in the amount of at least four and one half (4.5) mills.
I have questions about the legality of that proposal. The city commission must vote to approve a city budget each year, which includes assessing the number of mills for the library. How can an agreement that mandates in advance what the commissioners must approve in mills each year for the library be legal? That’s a deliberation that should be made every year during the budget process. Also, the ballot language “up to” infers there are no guarantees.
In addition, we found out at the commission meeting that the library negotiating team never presented its proposal to the city’s negotiating team. It seems that shows the library team’s failure to act in good faith.
Folks lamenting the possible loss of 7 mills by agreement also fail to acknowledge that the library received and likely will continue to receive, much more than their original ask.
When the value of the mill increased from $105,417 in FY 2023 (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023) to $131,816 in FY 2024 (July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024) the library received much more than their original dollar ask in their levy, since their levy was based on the FY 2023 mill value. In fact, it appears they could have levied only 12 additional mills above the 2 mills already in existence, still received the requested increase in dollars for their budget, and alleviated the burden for the taxpayers by levying fewer mills. But instead they levied the maximum allowable under the levy.
The library board will hold a special meeting on whether or not to accept city’s proposal on September 5 at 5:30 in the Cordingley Room (basement) at the library. The agenda packet can be found here: https://greatfallsmt.net/sites/default/files/fileattachments/library_board_of_trustees/meeting/packets/265182/full-library_board_packet_special_meeting_september_5_2024.pdf
