Great Falls voters approved the first citywide park district with a vote of 8,279 to 6,748 in Tuesday’s election.

The results aren’t final until elections officials complete the canvas next week and there’s a series of administrative steps to certify the results and get the assessment added to the fall tax bills.

Great Falls park district approved; school levy fails

The district will add an estimated $23 per $100,000 taxable value to Great Falls property owners tax bills. The Park and Recreation Department will build the assessment into their budget and City Commissioners will hold a public hearing to set the assessment this summer during the budget process.

Park district is on track to go to May 8 ballot for $1.5 million assessment

Commissioners have indicated they want to assessment to be $1.5 million per year for each of the first three years. After that, Park and Rec will make a budget and project list for the following three years. The assessment must be set annually with a public hearing.

City to seek proposals for management of both golf courses

That tax revenue won’t start coming in until the fall and then Park and Rec staff will get to work on the list of projects they’ve identified for the first years of the park district. The projects are based on the Park Master Plan that was adopted by commissioners in 2016.

Those planned projects are:

Year One

• ADA park restroom improvements
• Electric City Water Park bath house improvements
• Gibson Park trail overlay (asphalt)
• Sports courts resurface/Jaycee (pickleball/BB)
• ADA sidewalks to play structures
• Irrigation upgrades (manual to auto)
• Turf maintenance: fertilizer/herbicide, two seasonal laborers
• Full-time parks laborer
• Multi Sports dugouts/backstop
• Picnic pavilion & tables/Jaycee
• River’s Edge Trail matching funds
• Contingency/operations/professional services

Year Two

• ADA park restroom improvements
• Elks Riverside trail replacement (concrete)
• Tree replacement
• River’s Edge trail matching funds
• Forestry equipment/tree trimming (one time cost)
• Forestry staff and operations
• Irrigation upgrades (manual to auto)
• Turf maintenance: fertilizer/herbicide, two seasonal laborers (continuing from year one, not new positions)
• Full-time parks laborer (continuing from year one, not a new position)
• Contingency/operations/professional services

 

Year Three

• ADA park restroom improvements
• Gibson Park pond wall
• Grande Vista trail replacement (asphalt)
• Resurface basketball courts
• ADA sidewalks to play structures
• Tree replacement
• Multi Sports dugouts/backstop
• River’s Edge Trail matching funds
• Irrigation upgrades (manual to auto)
• Turf maintenance: fertilizer/herbicide, two seasonal laborers (continuing from year one, not a new position)
• Full-time parks laborer (continuing from year one, not a new position)
• Forestry staff and operations
• Contingency/operations/professional services