| Past AG opinion says library board has authority to set final budget City argues library board letter was inaccurate By Mary Beth Almond BIRMINGHAM — Just 10 days after the Baldwin Public Library Board of Directors asked Sen. John Pappageorge to request the legal opinion of the state Attorney General’s Office on who has the authority to set the library’s final annual budget, they have received a response. The library board and the City Commission have been at odds about who has control over the library’s annual operating millage since last year, when the commission — which typically sets the annual millage rate for both the city and the library — reduced the 2008-09 library millage rate from 1.35 mills to 1 mill. At the crux of the issue is how or who established the library. The library maintains it was established by a vote of the electors independent of the city, while the city says it established the library. Hoping to resolve the dispute out of court, Library Board President Ann Conigliaro said the library board unanimously voted June 15 to ask Pappageorge for an attorney general’s opinion on the matter. The very next day, the letter was delivered to his office. On June 25, Pappageorge sent a response letter to the library board in which he referred to an attorney general’s opinion issued a little over a decade ago. According to a 1996 opinion by former Michigan Attorney General Frank J. Kelley, Pappageorge noted, the library board of directors, not the city commission, has the authority to determine the final annual budget of a city library established under Act 164 of 1877. “While the opinion serves to provide guidance to the city and the library in the current dispute, it is not legally binding to either party, nor can this correspondence be considered legally binding,” Pappageorge wrote in the letter. In response, Birmingham City Attorney Tim Currier sent a letter to Pappageorge’s office June 29 to let him know the city was not given a copy of the June 16 letter from the library board before it was sent, and therefore did not have a chance to review it for accuracy. He argued that the issue as explained by the library board in its letter was inaccurate because the library board said the library was established in 1907 following a vote of the electors, while the city maintains that it established the library. “In stating the issue, the library assumes as fact their version of events, which the city vigorously disputes,” he wrote. Currier said how and who established the library determines who has authority to set the library’s final annual budget within Act 164 of 1877. If the city established the library — as the city maintains — Currier said section 10 of the Act gives the City Commission the authority to set the library’s budget. But if the library was established following a vote of the electors — as the library maintains —section 10a gives the library board the authority. Justin Winslow, chief of staff for Pappageorge, said the senator is not taking either side in what he called “a local issue,” he is merely trying to help out by providing any relevant resources from the state. “We just received a very large packet of information from the city attorney and we will give it a thorough review,” he said. You can reach Staff Writer Mary Beth Almond at malmond@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1060. |
