Great Falls Fire Rescue is down about nine firefighters due to retirements, promotions and the inability to develop a hiring pool due to COVID-19. But, GFFR, along with other fire departments that are members of the Montana Firefighting Testing Consortium, is working on testing to build a hiring pool. COVID-19 is forcing them to change up the process a bit
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City staff’s request to use tax increment financing funds for the Civic Center façade repair project gets a first read during the Nov. 17 City Commission meeting, when they’ll be asked to set a public hearing on the request for Dec. 1. The city is requesting to use the downtown TIF funds for the project that’s an estimated $5.5 construction
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The proposal to amend the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan to include Civic Center repairs is on the Oct. 6 City Commission agenda. In mid-August, the city’s planning board voted to recommend approval of the amendment. On Aug. 26, the Downtown Development Partnership unanimously voted to recommend approval of the change. Downtown group approves amendment for Civic Center repairs; TIF application
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During their Aug. 4 meeting, the City Commission will conduct public hearings on its assessments, which include street maintenance, boulevard maintenance, Portage Meadows maintenance, lighting districts and the park district. None of them are increasing and the budget, which commissioners adopted on July 21, doesn’t include much for equipment or capital improvements since staff kept it bare bones to avoid raising
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During their July 7 work session, city staff will review the proposed budget for the new fiscal year. The proposed budget include no tax increases and proposes using reserve funds to cover costs for this year in what City Manager Greg Doyon has called an “economic recovery” budget. The proposed budget doesn’t include new staffing for public safety, other staffing
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Great Falls City Manager Greg Doyon is recommending a budget with no tax increase for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. Doyon has said in public meetings for the last several months that he would be recommending a budget without tax increases for economic recover for the community due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He’ll discuss budget options with
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As the city and county are reopening along the governor’s phased reopening guidelines, limitations continue and there are financial impacts for the local governments. The state received $1.25 billion of federal funding through the $150 billion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, CARES, Act. Bullock updates phase one to allow gyms, some pools, movies theaters and museums to begin opening
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City staff conducted the quarterly budget review with City Commissioners during their Nov. 19 work session. The review showed that for fiscal year 2019, which ended June 30, the city had reached a 22 percent fund balance for the general fund despite only projecting an 18 percent fund balance for the year. City policy is to maintain an undesignated fund
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City Commissioners will consider approving a $301,004.41 contract during their Oct. 15 meeting with Central Square/Zuercher Technologies for the replacement of call processing equipment at the Great Falls Emergency Communication 911 Dispatch Center. The current equipment, Positron VIPER, was approaching its replacement date at the city’s dispatch center and city staff released a request for proposals to explore replacements and
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City Commissioners approved the tax levy during their Aug. 20 meeting for the current budget year. The total mill levy for the current budget year is 200.78 mills totaling $20,384,444. The projected impact on a home with a taxable market value of $100,000 is: inflationary adjustment: $2.33 permissive medical levy: $6.38 total: $8.71 There was no public comment on the
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