May have to lose city-county joint status

The Havre public library is facing possible changes in operation due to problems with insurance — its provider says it can't offer coverage to its employees.

At issue is a discovery that the agency that provides insurance to city employees is not supposed to be insuring the library employees because they don't work for the city — the Havre-Hill County Library is a separate entity.

"It's become a challenge for us because we can only cover city government … ," said John Cummings of the Montana Municipal Insurance Authority during the library board's meeting Thursday. "When it comes to interlocal governmental libraries … they kind of put those interlocal libraries in a tough spot because they're not city and they're not county."

He said MMIA would continue to provide liability, health insurance and worker's comp coverage through the end of the current term, July 1, and could grant extensions beyond that if needed.

Cummings told the board that some interlocal agreements governing libraries allow MMIA to offer insurance to the employees, depending on how the agreements are set up. That primarily is a question of who employs the workers, and who has authority over the library.

Most libraries with which MMIA has worked when the authority has not been able to cover employees have purchased private insurance — which is not difficult, Cummings added.

"Libraries don't raise many issues … because, like I say, not much bad happens in libraries," he said.

Havre City Attorney Jim Kaze asked why the issue has become a problem. The Havre and Hill County libraries merged in 1986.

"The reality of it is that this has existed for a long, long time, both on the county and city side, and yet now is the issue," he said, "and it seems illogical to me that we're worried about it now when we weren't worried about it 10 years ago, 15 years ago."

Cummings said the issue has been coming up more and more in the last four years. The issue is MMIA meeting its requirements of helping cities and towns, the purpose for which it was formed in the 1980s, rather than other entities, he said.

Havre City Clerk Doug Kaercher said the building itself is owned by the city, and would be continued to be covered by MMIA. The library could purchase its own liability and health insurance coverage, but that still would leave a problem with worker's compensation premiums. The city would have a difficult time working that into the payroll if the library staff members are not city employees.

A possibility, the group discussed, would be rewriting the interlocal agreement to specify the city, rather than the library board, employs its staff members and giving the city some control over decisions, such as hiring, pay rates and wages.

Kaercher said the library board could still make those decisions, but implementation would require approval of the city council.

He said the county now has little control over the library as it is, other than appointing two of the board members, with its primary role helping with funding through the 3-mill library levy.

The county funding is significantly less than 50 percent of the library funding Kaercher added.

After the meeting, Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said the board — and the commission and city officials — need to discuss all of the solutions raised, including rewriting the interlocal agreement, buying private insurance or even making the library a fully city- or county-operated entity.

"We need to look at all the options," Peterson said.

He and former library director Bonnie Williamson said they aren't sure why changes are needed.

"Other than insurance and (worker's) comp seem to be trying to rule us, and both Mark and I expressed a concern about insurance trying to tell us what to do," Williamson said.

Williamson, who was the director who oversaw the merging of the city and county libraries in 1986 and served as the director until she retired last year, said if the interlocal agreement is changed the board needs to make sure the language still has the board representing both the the city and county.

"All people need to be represented, whether you live 50 miles out or right in town next to the library … " she said. "That was a very important goal of mine, and the commissioners and mayor at that time, and I think we just need to keep on with that."

Library foundation meeting set for May 9

The funding foundation that supports the Havre-Hill County Public Library has some activities — and agenda items on which to vote — set for its annual meeting next month.

Bonnie Williamson, acting chair of the foundation board, said during the library board's monthly meeting Thursday that the meeting is set for Thursday, May 9.

Activities planned include a demonstration of balloon twisting by Kit Boysun, who also donates many of her creations to local libraries.

The meeting also will include re-appointing or electing board members, and voting on agenda items by members of the foundation.

The meeting is set to start at 7 p.m. May 9 at the Havre-Hill County Library.