HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board Minutes 12.16.1986 MINUTES OF THE LAUREL PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
DATE -Dec. 16,1986
ATTENDANCE -6ene Williams(presiding),Campbell Calvert,Bonnie
Preiksas,Ruth Baker,Adele 2ink,Peggy Arnold
Guests -Bob Singleton,Polli VanNice,Ellen Ready
SPECIAL DISCUSSION -Bob Singleton,superintendent, and Polli Van
Nice, president of the school board, discussed the availability
of the North School lot for a .public library and the possibility
of a cooperative or consolidated library.
MINUTES -read and approved
COMMUNICATIONS-received a copy of the Montana Attorney Generals
opinion for Jefferson County concerning authority of county
library trustees
REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN - Traffic for Nov. 86 was 2096, down 25%
from Oct.86,up 4% from Nov. 85. Circulation was 4446, down 16X
from Oct. 86, up 23% from Nov. 85.
FINANCIAL - $17,061.26 is in the Capital Projects Fund, and
$20,300.27 is in the Building Fund at Yellowstone Bank.
n COMMITTEE REPORTS -
Grants -the MPCO /Entech grant is ready except for the copies
of the newspaper articles
Federation Advisory Board -Adele Zink and Peggy Arnold
attended on Dec. 13. The Montana State Library Commission has
taken action to consolidate library services to Montana residents
due to the serious decline in CST revenues.
OLD BUSINESS- Bonnie Preikszas has contacted the Friends of the
Library to conduct tours. The Friends will discuss this at their
meeting in February. Campbell reported on the meeting held on
Dec. 12 with Larry Herman to establish a trust fund. It will be
called the Laurel Library Foundation. Mel Tienavold will do the
filing for exempt status. The Chairman of the Foundation will be
Campbell Calvert and the other board members are Gene Williams
and Gwen Nottingham.
NEW BUSINESS -e letter of thanks will be sent to Mayor Gauthier
and the City Council for the Christmas party. The Chamber of
Commerce is sponsoring a basketball tournament on Dec. 26 and 27.
Proceeds will be donated to the lighting project and the Library
Building Fund. The Wymont Coca -cola donation will be presented at
this time.
NEXT MEETING -Jan. 27, 1987 at 9:15
Respectfully Submitted,
Peg y Arnold
_gr C2 ,W
Special discussion with school personnell concerning the North
School lot and cooperative libraries.
North School lot- (1)land can't be traded, must be appraised and put up
for bid(2)public vote has to be made to approve use of land for
non - school us(3) school district would benefit selling to a non -tax-
exempt organization and selling at a time when property values are
higher.
Cooperative libraries -(1) tax payers may benefit due to cost sharing
(2) Would have to be connected to school facility(3)Would have to
consider advantages and disadvantages.
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MONTANA STATE LIBRARY
%f Ttgl ,9i. /••44N y - _ 1515 E. 6TH AVENUE
TED SOHWINI)EN, GOVERNOR
f 7.'' SATE OF IVO \TA \A
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<- y (406) 444 -3115 HELENA, MONTANA 59620
SJ =.." KJ�C
i -! -
November 20, 1986
TO: Chairs, Public Library Boards of Trustees
Public Library Directors
Interested Parties •
FROM: Sara Parker, .
State Librarian
Attached is a copy of a November 13, 1986 Attorney General's Opinion on
Montana's public library law. It is a far reaching opinion, reinforcing
the powers of library boards under MCA 22 -1 -301 through 22 -1 -3310. Number
3 of the opinion is most probably affected by the passage of ballot
Initiative 105, which has frozen property taxes at the 1986 rates.
Thank you.
SP:jd
Attachment
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4 r4 EOM_ •L O °JORTUr -, EVPLOYER
•
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VOLUME NO. 41 OPINION NO. 91
COUNTIES - Authority of county library trustees
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS - Authority over county library
matters;
LIBRARIES - Authority of library trustees;
TAXATION AND REVENUE - Obligation of county
commissioners to levy property taxes for county library
expenses;
MONTANA CODE ANNOTATED - Sections 22--1- 304, 22- 1- 309(6),
22 -1 -310, 39 -31- 103(1), 39 -31 -208;
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL - 35 Op. Att'y Gen. No.
n 71 (1974), 39 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 5 (1981), 39 Op. Att'y
Gen. No. 38 (1981), 41 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 45 (19x6).
HELD: 1. A board of county commissioners does not have
the authority to modify the decision . of, county
library trustees concerning wage ;and salary
amounts for library. employees.
2. A board of county commissioners. does not have
the authority to modify an annual library
budget adopted by county library trustees.
n 3. A board of county commissioners does not have
the authority to refuse, within statutory
millage limits, to levy some or all of the
property taxes necessary to satisfy an annual
budget adopted by county library trustees.
•
13 November 1986
•
John P. Connor, Jr.
Jefferson County Attorney •
Jefferson County Courthouse •
Boulder MT 5963 2
Dear Mr. Connor:
You have requested my opinion concerning the following
questions:
1. Does the Jefferson Board of County
Commissioners have the authority to
override a determination by the trustees
41/91/1
,t
of the Jefferson County Library to grant .
pay increases to library personnel?
2. Does the Jefferson Board of County
Commissioners have the authority to
modify the annual budget submitted by the
trustees of the Jefferson County Library
even though the amount of property taxes
necessary to satisfy such budget falls
within the statutory limit of five mills
under section 22- 1- 304(1), MCA?
•
3. Does the Jefferson Board of County
Commissioners have the discretion to levy -
no millage for funding of the Jefferson
County Library?
•
I conclude that each of these questions must be answered
negatively.
The Jefferson County Library was established under
sections 22 -1 -301 to 22 -1 -317, MCA. In summary those
provisions authorize the formation of a city, county, or
consolidated .city- county free public library. Once
created the library is governed by a board of trustees
n with broad powers and duties, including the obligation
to prepare an annual budget "indicating what support and
maintenance.of the public library will be required from
public funds" and to employ a chief librarian and such
other employees as are deemed necessary to administer
the library,. §S 22 -1- 309(6), 22 -1 -310, MCA. The latter
responsibility further expressly extends to.,fixing and.,
paying library employees' salaries and compensation.
S 22 -1 -310, MCA. .The annual budget must be submitted by
the trustees to the governing body of the city or county
which, in turn, may impose a property tax levy not to
exceed five mills for the purpose of raising the funds
required to maintain the library. • § 22 -1- 304(1), MCA.
All monies deriving from such levy must be placed into
the public library fund, may not be used for any purpose
other than operation of the library, and cannot be
distributed from the fund without :order.or warrant of
the trustees. § 22 -1- 304(4) and (5), MCA.
This brief description of the library trustees' powers
and duties reflects substantial autonomy from the
governing body of the local governmental. unit within
which the library has been established. See Municipal
Employees Local 2390 v. City of Billings, 171. -Mont. 20,
24, 555 P.2d 507, 509 (1976) ("Fu)nder the Library
Systems Act, as a whole, the board of trustees is given
independent powers to manage and operate the library ").
The trustees are thus quite clearly granted direct
responsibility for administering the library in a manner
largely independent of city or county control. That the
fiscal operation of the library is heavily interrelated
with that of the local government does not, at least .
insofar as the trustees have been accorded explicit -
authority, mean their determinations are subject to
plenary review and possible modification by, in this
instance, a board of county commissioners. • Any
different conclusion would eviscerate the trustees'
authority and render them little more than the county's
agents - - a conclusion which is simply unsupported by a
fair reading of-the involved statute.
•
•
41/91/2
I recognize that library employees may well. be
considered city or county employees for certain
purposes. See Municipal Employees Local 2390 v. City of
Billings, supra; see 39 Op. Att'y Gen. No.. 38 (1981T
(soil conservation district and district court employees
considered county employees); 35 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 71
(1974) (fire district employees considered county
employees). However, such status does not subordinate
the trustees' express grant of authority to fix
compensation levels to count' commissioner. control. Cf.
41 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 45 (1986) (mayoral appointment of
administrative assistant not subject to city council
approval) . i' Municipal Employees Local _ 2390, in
particular, does not militate again the trustees'
authority in such matters as to library employees; there
the Court merely concluded that a library employee, who
had participated in union representation election under
section 39 -31 -208, MCA, and became part of a diverse
city employee bargaining unit, was subject to the terms
and conditions of the collective bargaining agreement
covering such unit and to which the City of Billings was
signatory. Under those circumstances the city was held
to be the employee's "public employer" as that term is
defined in section 39 -31- 103(1), MCA, and used
throughout the public employee collective bargaining
n law. The unique facts and statutory considerations
underlying Municipal Employees Local 2390 clearly do not
stand for the proposition that the trustees here are
subject to the control of the county commissioners
concerning questions of library employee compensation.
The trustees' express authority under section 22 -7 -310,
MCA, to fix such employees' compensation accordingly
prohibits the commissioners from establishing a
different wage level.
The trustees' power under section 22 -1- 309(6), MCA, to
adopt an annual budget forecloses the board of county
commissioners from effecting changes in such budget.
The obvious purpose of the trustees' authority in
library budget matters is to allow application of their
informed judgment to fiscal issues. Such authority is,
moreover, an integral aspect of the trustees'
independence without which many of their other express
powers would be rendered meaningless. The board of
county commissioners' only role in library budget
matters is to assign a property tax levy amount, which
presently cannot exceed five mills, sufficient to
satisfy the budgetary needs. The commissioners'
function is thus purely ministerial with respect to the
imposition of the levy.
Finally, use of the permissive "may" in section
22 -1- 304(1), ;".CA, does not, in view of the trustees'
independent budgetary authority, grant the county
commissioners discretion not to levy any millage, since
the existence of such discretion would effectively
supersede the trustees' express powers. Section
22 -1- 304(1), MCA, must instead be read together with the
trustees' broad control over library operations and, if
so construed, does not permit an interpretation which
leaves within the county commissioners' determination
whether some or none of the millage necessary to meet
library budget demands should be assessed. See 39 Op.
Att'y Gen. No. 5 (1981).
n
41/91/3
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• 1. - ..,A board of county commissioners .does not haye7" .
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