City says request for emergency mills different than failed crisis services levy

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) Missoula voters in 2022 opposed a crisis services levy sought by advocates to fund everything from addiction services to sheltering the homeless. This year, the city and county plan to fund some items contained with the failed levy regardless.

Mayor Andrea Davis on Monday will ask the City Council to levy two emergency mills to help cover expenses related to shelter. But she said the crisis services levy and the two emergency mills aren't an equal comparison.

Among other things, she said the crisis levy sought $5 million annually to fund a wider range of programs, including addiction and mental health services, pretrial services and authorized camp sites, and it would have been a permanent levy on both city and county taxpayers.

In contrast, Davis said the two emergency mills represent a one-time expense and, if authorized, will go only to shelter services. She said the two-mill levy will reimburse the city around $414,000 for shelter costs.

“This emergency sheltering levy is a one-time tax increase and will be used to partially fund the operations of the Johnson Street temporary shelter,” Davis told the Missoula Current.

“I’m cognizant of the increase property taxes have on Missoulians and it’s been a goal of mine to find ways to address this,” she added. “We have worked hard this budget year to find cost savings in the budget to maintain levels of service our community expects. I will continue to work on ways to address the challenges posed by our property tax system, such as examining service levels and legislative relief via tax reform."

The mills would cost a home with an assessed value of $450,00 around $12 a year.

Ongoing needs and costs

The City Council must authorize the placement of the two emergency mills into the Fiscal Year 2025. If it doesn't, Davis said the city will levy the mills in its base budget – a move that would be permanent.

Doing it as a one-time cost buys the city more time to explore options for next year and keeps the funding out of the base budget. But the City Council must vote unanimously for the city to levy the mills.

“The reason I’m proposing utilizing this emergency shelter levy is because we still have the ongoing challenge that the number of people needing shelter and housing assistance far exceeds the community sheltering and supportive housing capacity,” Davis said.

Former Mayor Jordan Hess in 2022 declared a state of emergency in response to immediate sheltering needs after the city's homeless numbers increased. But the city never acted on the declaration, at least not by raising mills.

Davis said the number of people needing shelter and housing assistance still exceed the city's sheltering and supportive housing capacity. Back in 2022, it had become an acute issue, particularly around crisis camping, and it remains so today, city officials said.

Davis plans to ask the City Council to levy the two mills on Monday. But unlike the crisis services levy, it will only fund shelter costs. The crisis levy in contrast sought funding for a number of items not covered by the two emergency mills including crime victim advocates, crisis intervention, jail mental health, mobile support, safe outdoor spaces, authorized camp sites and pretrial supervision, among other things.

“The (emergency levy) will partially fund the operational contract for the Johnson Street shelter this coming year,” Davis said.