One of Montana’s largest art museums is up in arms after discovering proposed changes at the county level would move nearly six figures of funding away from its operating budget.
Yellowstone County’s tentative, new budget would decrease the Yellowstone Art Museum’s share of county funds by around $93,000, according to the county. Yellowstone Art Museum Executive Director Jessica Ruhle said the county funding helps with expenses like building maintenance and exhibit care.
“It might not sound like a tremendous amount of money when our budget is over $2 million, but this is significant for us in terms of just how many of our expenses here at the museum are really fixed costs,” Ruhle said.
According to Yellowstone County Commissioner John Ostlund, four museums around the county share about $800,000 of funding, but budget constraints are pushing the county to split up the money in a different way over the next couple of years.
Ostlund points to inflation as a reason the budget is tight.
“We’re having a time of diminished resources, and we need to ensure that all the properties and collections that Yellowstone County owns are adequately maintained,” Ostlund said.
The Yellowstone Art Museum’s collection is privately owned and Ostlund said shifting money away from the art museum could help support improvements at institutions like the Yellowstone County Museum.
The county and its taxpayers own both the history museum’s building and its collection. Yellowstone County Museum Executive Director Zach Garhart said the museum’s annual budget is around $300,000 and the county funds about half of it.
“County funding is instrumental to us,” Garhart said.
County Commissioners will review the preliminary budget and take public comment in the last week of June. You can find out more about upcoming meetings on the Yellowstone County Commissioners’ website.
