budget

The Idaho Legislature in 2021 passed a law requiring local governments — like cities, counties and school districts — to uniformly report their accounting information.

County officials said local residents would have seen a tax decrease this year if not for the increased value of homes. The Legislature's failure to lower the residential tax rate from 1.35% to .94%, as recommended by DOR, also played a role.

In a four-hour show of priorities and opinions, the Missoula City Council on Wednesday considered a long list of amendments to the new city budget that would either add new costs or cut them.

With an increase in appraisal values across Missoula, the City Council will levy fewer mills to raise more revenue for next year's fiscal budget. It's also looking to fund more than $6.3 million in new programs, bringing the city's total tax-supported revenue to $111 million – up from $105 million last year.

Calling housing, inequity and climate a city-wide goal shared by the vast majority of residents, Mayor Jordan Hess on Monday framed his new executive budget based upon the state's new property appraisals and said a tax increase was inevitable.

Unreliable equipment and changing expectations around policing are fueling new requests in this year's Missoula Police Department budget, including the need for dependable car and body cameras, and several new vehicles.

While the department's new requests add up to around $1.59 million, they don't yet include probable requests around homelessness and shelter. Those requests will be presented in the coming weeks.

One freshman member of the Missoula City Council voted against paying the city's bills this week while criticizing what he believes is a lack of transparency in the budgeting process.

While urban camping and the issues it brings has become a heated debate this summer, the city's housing program and its non-profit partners are exploring short-term solutions to address the problem while also working toward long-term plans to provide more shelter and housing options in Missoula.

Call volumes have nearly doubled over the last 15 years for the Missoula Fire Department, but its staffing levels haven't increased. And despite persistent requests to buy land for a new station in the booming Mullan area – and to fix a broken elevator at another station – the requests remain unfunded.