Fiscal Responsibility

The proceeds of the tax levy for library services, known as the public library fund, shall not be used for any purpose except those of the public library. 22-1-304 (4), MCA. 

While the city or county may have authority over the total amount of tax revenue given to the library, the 54 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 7 opinion and MCA give line-item authority to the library board. The board can determine how the revenue is spent.   

• General fund refers to the property taxes and other sources of tax revenue local governments levy that are used to fund multiple government services including the general administration of the city or county. 
• A voted levy refers to revenue that is raised because people within a community voted to pay more taxes to fund a specific service or project. 
• For city, county, or city-county libraries created by a resolution of their respective city council or county commission, the local governing body has the final authority over the budget amount.  
• For independent public library districts formed by Title 22, the county commission has the final authority over the budget amount.  
• For school-community libraries, multijurisdictional service district libraries, or other libraries with interlocal agreements – if formed by an interlocal agreement as defined in Title 7, you may be protected from this opinion. An interlocal agreement is considered a contract and as such it gives your library some protection since it defines the support level of the county or city. 

A successful special mill levy election requires the governing body of a city or county to levy an amount authorized by the voters and create the public library fund to be used exclusively for public library purposes.  

Only the Board of Trustees can authorize disbursement of money from the public library fund.  (22-1-304, MCA)