While the city and county of Missoula prepare their new fiscal year budget, local residents are digging deeper into their pocket books to pay their property taxes.
Michael Kremkau writes that an "increase in call volume and service area has resulted in response times that are 2 minutes higher than national standards. Supporting the mil levy will help to add an additional fire station and engine company."
Sneed Collard writes, "In an era when climate change threatens our collective future, oversized vehicles move us in exactly the wrong direction on conserving our planet’s resources. Car companies and large vehicle owners know this."
Board members overseeing Colorado’s efforts to restore intercity passenger rail service along the Front Range signaled this week that they plan to wait until 2026 to ask voters to fund the project.
Property taxes have become a major issue for Montana residents this year and a point of contention between counties and the state, each pointing the finger at the other for who’s to blame for the rate increase.
Citing an administrative burden and a cumbersome scoring system, Missoula County may change how it distributes funding from Montana's alcohol tax to local providers who offer treatment and prevention services.
Mayor Andrea Davis writes, "The safety of our residents is paramount. Despite the challenges posed by the Montana property tax environment, we cannot afford to delay this much-needed investment."
Montanans last week rejected half of the school levies tracked by the state’s largest union, including all five requests in Helena, even as large districts face multimillion dollar shortfalls.
Bill Mercer writes, "With the completion of the poll of the Legislature on whether to override the Governor’s veto of Senate Bill 442, I want to explain my consistent opposition to the bill, including voting against overriding the veto."