Great Falls Public Schools has received $1,168,100 over the last few years through a tax credit program established by the 2021 Legislature and enhanced by the 2023 dollar-for-dollar tax credit program.

Brian Patrick, GFPS’ business operations manager, told the school board during their Sept. 9 meeting that Montana taxpayers can decide to pay their state taxes directly to the school district of their choice rather than sending them to the state.

The program allows residents to make a cash donation to their local public schools and individuals or companies can contribute up to $200,000 per year for educational programs. Married taxpayers filing jointly may take a tax credit of up to $400,000 for each tax credit, according to the Montana Department of Revenue.

GFPS claims $1 million in state tax credit program

Only public schools can access the state system to claim the tax credits so a check or cashiers check has to be provided to GFPS by the time the program window opens in January.

More information on the program from the DOR is available here.

For GFPS, that includes both the elementary and high school districts.

Contributions can be directed by the school districts to innovative educational programs that benefit students through transformational and advanced learning opportunities for students, programs, services and equipment for students with disabilities, work-based learning partnerships, post-secondary credit or career certifications and technologies that improve student experiences and opportunities, Patrick told the board.

In 2022, when the program first started, one person contributed $40,000 to GFPS.

In 2021, the district received $118,000 from four people.

In 2024, the contributions totaled $371,400 from 13 contributors and $628,600 from 22 contributors, Patrick said.

GFPS asking locals to consider tax credit that benefits public schools [2023]

The effort to direct those tax credits to GFPS has largely been lead by Anders Blewett, a local attorney.

On Oct. 2, a window opens for additional contributions of up to $227,001 for the 2024 tax year from contributions that were withdrawn from the previous year or didn’t meet the guidelines, Patrick said.

Last year, the district participated in that window thanks to a $66,000 donation from Blewett.

In January 2025, the next window will open for the tax credit and each of GFPS’ districts are capped at $1.2 million. Statewide, $6 million is available.

Those contributions are on a first come, first serve basis until the funding is claimed.

In 2024, most of the available funds were claimed within the first 10 minutes, and GFPS has a maximum of five people allowed to input contributions, Patrick said.

GFPS administrators discussed the use of those funds and outlined a plan that was publicly available for comment, Patrick said.

That plan includes allocating funds for specialized curriculum related grade level field trips, replacing those that were lost in budget cuts several years ago; remodeling the former Great Falls High shop area into a district-wide enhanced learning center that may be used by all schools and a specialized athletic mental health program.