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Good morning and Happy Halloween Eve. In this edition, we look at how the Missoula Public Library could address its budget shortfall and hear more about the county’s data center study. Also, when and where to drop your ballots, due next Tuesday.
But first, a weather preview ☀️
Halloween weekend will be cool and cloudy, but rain will likely hold off until trick-or-treating is over, according to the National Weather Service’s Missoula office. Friday will be mostly cloudy with a high near 50 degrees and a slight chance of rain in the afternoon. The forecast calls for partly sunny conditions Saturday, with a high near 53 degrees. Sunday will be cooler, with a high near 47, and likely rainy in the afternoon.
Rising costs main driver of shortfall
The Missoula Public Library is considering several options, including closing on Sundays or opening an hour later, to address its budget shortfall.
The library’s Board of Trustees Wednesday discussed the options but did not make any final decisions.
Slaven Lee, the library director, told me the shortfall started in fiscal year 2024 (July 2023 through June 2024) because of rising costs. In fiscal year 2025, the library’s revenue was about $4.1 million, while its costs were around $4.4 million, leaving a shortfall of about $383,000.
Last year, the shortfall was about $213,000, with revenue of about $4.3 million and expenses of $4.5 million. The library cut its book budget by about $153,000 and used all of its emergency cash savings to cover the gap, Lee said during the meeting.
“This is just not a sustainable way to continue to cover a shortfall,” Lee said. “So we need to make harder decisions.”
The library receives $995,000 annually from a permanent operational levy approved by voters in 2006. That number has not changed in 20 years, while the library has grown and costs have increased, Lee said. The top three expenses pressuring the budget are utility costs, building maintenance and wages and healthcare benefits, Lee said. The library is considering running a levy in the next couple of years but Lee said they are still exploring options. Even if a levy passes, it would take time to receive that revenue.
The library is aiming to cut $200,000 immediately and has already identified savings to get close to that number, Lee said. But the goal is to save $400,000, not knowing how high the deficit will be at the end of this fiscal year and given that the library has already cut its book budget and used up its savings, Lee said.
Lee presented several reduction options for the board to consider.
Closing the downtown branch on Sunday could save about $128,000. The library is open for five hours that day but staff are paid for eight hours. Lee said the library has heard from families of young children about how the library is an important free resource for them on Sundays. The board discussed potentially closing on Monday instead, which would save about the same amount of money but reduce more hours.
Another option is to close Monday evenings at 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m., which would save about $14,000. Lee said that would disrupt the “non-traditional” time the library is open, especially for people who work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The library is open until 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. A majority of its evening programming is Tuesday and Wednesday, Xavier Kneedler-Shorten, the programming librarian, told the board. Closing Monday evenings would also affect the walk-in hours for the MakerSpace, which includes access to 3D printers, a sewing machine, a laser cutter and other tools.
The library could also open at 10 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. on Monday through Saturday to save more than $100,000. All potential reductions of hours would take time to result in savings because the library is not not laying off anyone but is reallocating their hours, Lee said.
The board also discussed closing the Frenchtown branch to save about $50,000. That branch is located in Frenchtown High School and is open 20 hours a week from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Reducing the hours from 20 to 10 per week would save about $25,000. Cutting hours at the other rural branches would not result in savings without layoffs, Lee said.
Lee and board member Peter Donaldson attended the Frenchtown School Board meeting Oct. 20 and heard feedback from several community members. Lee said residents told them that the library is a community hub and offers resources for parents and access to computers for residents without internet. Others voiced concerns about how they would pick up their library holds.
If the branch closes, the library is considering alternatives to provide services via the bookmobile, Lee said.
“My hope would be if we made any of these changes it would be temporary,” Lee said.
The library will already save about $100,000 by not replacing the IT director when he retires in February, Lee said. If other staff members take retirement incentive packages, that would save more money, Lee said. Leadership has also talked to interested staff members about reducing their hours from 40 to 32 per week, which could add up to about $100,000 in savings, Lee said.
“Guiding our decisions should be protecting access, understanding what these changes will do as much as we can,” Lee said. “A lot of this is just a risk that you have to take based on data and see what happens. … Of course we need to be transparent with our decisions, plan sustainably and then figure out what we can afford to provide.”
Board Chair Julie Edwards encouraged board members to consider the options ahead of the planned vote Nov. 18.
“I think we should be thinking about which of the bad options on the menu are going forward,” she said.
Public Notice 🧐
Ballots due Tuesday; residents can still drop ballots, register to vote
ℹ️ The Missoula County Elections Office is reminding voters that it’s too late to return ballots by mail, but they can be dropped off at various places until 8 p.m. Tuesday. Residents can also still register to vote.
Drop off your ballot:
🗓️ Friday, Oct. 30 – Monday, Nov. 2
📍 24/7 ballot drop box at the Elections Center, 140 N. Russell St.
🗓️ Monday, Nov. 2
📍 Drive-thru at McCormick Park from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
🗓️ Tuesday, Nov. 3
📍 Any polling place
📍 Drive-thru on South Russell between the YMCA and the fairgrounds
📍 Drive-thru at Hellgate Elementary baseball field parking lot north of the school
❌ Avoid dropping ballots at the Elections Center on Election Day due to increased traffic and parking congestion.
Register to vote:
🗓️ Friday, Oct. 30, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 31, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Monday, from 8 a.m. to noon; Tuesday, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
📍 Elections Center, 140 N. Russell St.
🔗 More information is available on the county website. Track your ballot at myvoterpageMT.com.
Missoula County mails property tax bills
ℹ️ Missoula County mailed 2026 property tax bills this week. Bills are also available online. More information about how property taxes are determined is available on the county’s website. For property owners who don’t pay their bills through their mortgage, tax payments for the first half of 2026 must be made or postmarked by Nov. 30. Property owners can pay:
📍In person at the Clerk and Treasurer’s Office, first floor of the Missoula County Courthouse Annex, 200 W. Broadway, or at the blue dropbox in the west parking lot off Woody Street.
📬 By mail, addressed to: Clerk and Treasurer’s Office, 200 W. Broadway St., Missoula, MT, 59802. If property owners mail a payment between Nov. 26 and Nov. 30, the county Clerk and Treasurer’s Office encourages them to take it to the post office and ask an employee to postmark the envelope at the counter to ensure it meets the deadline.
🔗 Online via credit card, debit card or electronic check. Service fees apply for credit or debit card payments but not for e-checks.
Following Up ↩️
Dozens of Missoulians aired questions and voiced various opinions on data centers and artificial intelligence during an informational meeting this week on Missoula County’s data center study.
The recently released study is the latest step in the county’s interim zoning process, which started in July when the county commissioners approved a temporary moratorium on data centers. The study assessed 13 categories of data center impacts on public health and the environment, including noise, water, heat, air, wildlife and climate change.
County staff outlined the study and took questions and comments during the meeting Tuesday. Patrick Swart, a county planner, told the crowd of about 50 people that data centers vary in scale and operation, but not only hyperscale data centers have impacts. The average data center’s energy use is 40 megawatts, Swart said. That’s roughly equivalent to the amount of energy demand of all the homes in Missoula, he said.
Even the relatively small project proposed in Bonner and later withdrawn would have used enough energy to power thousands of homes, Swart said. One of the big takeaways from the study was that smaller projects would still have significant potential impacts on energy demand, water use and air and water pollution, he said.
Svein Newman, the county’s climate action program manager, highlighted data centers’ impacts on climate change, noise and heat.
The study also evaluated the legal context in which the county can regulate data centers. Newman said that while the state’s Right to Compute Act likely rules out a local ban, it allows for specific regulation of identifiable impacts
“I really think we can do a lot with zoning, even while there are distinct limits on what that tool can do as well as what the county can do,” he said. “The Legislature and [Public Service Commission] ultimately have final say on a lot of this stuff, and it’s important that data center impacts be addressed at all levels of government.”
Newman said data centers will be discussed in the upcoming legislative session, with about 17 bill draft requests on the topic already submitted.
Missoula Rep. Bob Carter, a Democrat, said during the meeting that the Legislature might consider clawing back parts of the Right to Compute Act and incentives approved in 2019, as well as other regulations.
“We can’t just say no to data centers,” he said. “What we want to do in the Legislature is make sure the data centers do not take advantage of the lack of regulation in Montana. … We want to make sure nobody’s taking advantage of our clean air, our water, our lifestyle up here. And that’s what we wanted to protect. And so we want to make sure there’s a path forward.”
Several audience questions focused on how the county can enforce regulations, especially as some data centers have been built or operated without permits. Other people voiced concerns about the environmental and health impacts of data centers. While some audience members expressed a need to find the best way to build a data center, others felt more strongly that the development should not be allowed in Missoula or Montana.
As part of the study, county staff recommends moving forward with updating zoning regulations but not finalizing them until the Legislature adjourns, Newman said. Given that, the study also recommends extending the moratorium for an additional year, he said.
Those interested can read the study and submit comments on missoulacountyvoice.com. The Missoula Consolidated Land Use Board will consider the study and take public comment Wednesday, Nov. 4. The Missoula County commissioners are expected to give staff direction on next steps Thursday, Nov. 12.
Local Lineup 🚶
💀 The Headwaters Foundation is holding a Día de Los Muertos celebration from noon to 8 p.m. Sunday at 119 W. Main St. Friday and Saturday, community members can bring 5×7 or smaller photos, memorabilia and other offerings to place on the community altar. The cultural celebration begins at noon at the altar in the alley behind the Confluence Center and will include Latin music, food and drink. From 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., face painting, family activities and a themed art exhibit will take place inside.
The following evening, Missoula’s annual Festival of the Dead procession takes place through downtown. The event will begin at 5 p.m. on Monday at the north end of Higgins Avenue, near the XXXXs. The parade kicks off at 6 p.m. and concludes in Caras Park, where music, art and performances will be featured.
📽️ The documentary “The Airwaves Belonged to the People: WBCN and the American Revolution” will be shown Thursday, Nov. 5, at the Roxy Theater. The documentary highlights the impact of the Boston radio station on music, politics and counterculture during the 1960s and 1970s. More information and tickets are available on the Roxy’s website.
