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Becker County commissioners press Lake Agassiz Regional Library on formula, brace for budget decision
Summary
County commissioners questioned why Becker County pays a larger share of Lake Agassiz Regional Library's 2026 budget request than neighboring counties and asked library officials for usage data and alternatives before finalizing the county's contribution.
Lake Agassiz Regional Library representatives told the Becker County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 8 that the library system is requesting an additional $40,790 from Becker County for 2026 to maintain services and cover recently approved wage increases.
The request came during a presentation by Lake Agassiz regional representative Liz Lynch, who described services across the system's seven-county footprint and said Lake Agassiz used reserves to cover a 2025 wage increase and cannot sustain that practice. "If the budgetary request is not met, we would have to reduce hours in Becker County dollar for dollar," Lynch said, noting the library's "eighty-ten-ten" formula for allocating a signatory share: 80 percent tied to where library cardholders live, 10 percent to population and 10 percent to property value.
Commissioners pressed Lynch and county staff for…
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