Donors aid library secession

As the deadline nears for termination notice to the county, two of the leaders of a local effort to secede from the Flathead County Library System have come forward with an offer that could help ensure the transition to an independent Whitefish public library is a success.

Jake and Connie Heckathorn say they will donate $100,000 to help defray maintenance and operation costs if the city opts to leave the county library system. Another local will likely donate $100,000 more to the cause, Jake told the Whitefish City Council on Monday, Oct. 4.

The Heckathorns and others, working as the Ad Hoc Library Committee, explained their reasons for establishing an independent Whitefish library in a 175-page report presented to the city council in May. The group described a list of concerns, from heavy-handed administration in Kalispell and unacceptable treatment of local library employees to inequities in resource distribution.

The report also included a proposed budget and a way to divide the library’s assets. At Monday’s council meeting, Jake Heckathorn said the Whitefish Library Association would donate $15,000 to help defray the estimated $120,000 annual operating budget, and with the two $100,000 donations, the library could operate for two years without tax money. More than likely, the donations will become available for other purposes, he said, as the tax issues are resolved.

Mayor Mike Jenson and councilor Phil Mitchell said they attended several meetings with the county library board. Although no middle ground was reached, several ideas on how to resolve differences between the county and the Ad Hoc Library Committee held some promise, including creation of an advisory board, but the problems did not get resolved, Jenson said.

The city has an Oct. 28 deadline to notify the county that it intends to withdraw from the interlocal agreement that established a county branch library in the city-owned building. The deadline was extended from June 30, and the city has until June 30 next year to complete withdrawal.

A number of issues would need to be ironed out during that time if the city decides to leave the county library system. The county claims ownership to much of the books and library equipment, and the city is awaiting a Montana Attorney General’s opinion on whether the tax structure supporting the county library system can be changed.

The Attorney General’s Office issued a preliminary opinion on the subject on Sept. 16. The city had two questions — if the city established an independent library, could property inside the city limits be exempt from the county mill levy used to support the county library system; and could the city establish a public library supported by local taxes?

In his draft opinion, assistant attorney general Stuart Secrest said yes to both questions, with the condition that a city library supported by city tax dollars must already be in existence before the tax structure can be changed.

To accomplish this, the city could establish a new library of some sort and pay for it with money from the general fund, which comes from city property taxes. This is something the city council could do without putting the measure to public vote. This new and temporary library might only need to exist for a day in order to meet the requirements, city attorney Mary VanBuskirk told the Pilot.

Secrest sent his draft opinion to the city, the county, the Montana League of Cities and Towns, the Montana Association of Counties and the State Library Board for comments. Attorney General Steve Bullock could issue his opinion before the Whitefish City Council takes up the subject again at its Oct. 18 meeting.

In a July 15 letter to the Attorney General’s Office, Flathead County deputy attorney Tara Fugina noted that many non-city residents use the Whitefish library. The Ad Hoc Library Committee has said an independent Whitefish library will be open to those residents, and they will be able to check out materials.

For the fiscally conservative city councilors, transferring the 5.95 mills collected by the county to city coffers, so city employees could take over the Whitefish public library, was a wash. But getting the city out from under a potential $18 million bond levy for a new county library in Kalispell was even a bigger plus.

Whitefish built and owns its library building, and the residents of Kalispell should be responsible for building their own library, not the residents of Whitefish, the feeling goes.