City Commissioner will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget during their July 20 meeting. The budget does not include any tax increases and has been discussed in several commission work sessions. City Manager Greg Doyon has called this a continuation of the city’s economic recovery budgeting. City budget proposal includes no tax, utility increases There are also no
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City staff are proposing a budget with no tax or assessment increases for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. Greg Doyon, city manager, said that staff’s proposal this year will continue the economic recovery model from the current budget and will use fund balance to offset the tax relief. In the current budget, the city didn’t raise any
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The city’s newly established crime task force met for the first time June 7 to go over basics of public meetings and get an initial briefing from Great Falls Police Department Chief Jeff Newton. During the meeting, City Commissioner Rick Tryon said that the city is looking for specific recommendations on addressing crime issues in the community. Crime task force
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Great Falls Fire Rescue is applying for a grant from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant for safety and decontamination equipment. GFFR is applying for $188,879.52, which if approved, the city’s match would be $17,170.87 and would come from GFFR’s safety equipment account. The tentative announcement for the grant is September or October, according to GFFR.
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COVID-19 is impacting the city’s budget, particularly in the recreation, events and parking funds where operations have been significantly curtailed. But, one bright spot, staff told City Commissioners during their Jan. 19 work session, is that the city’s golf contractor, CourseCo, is making money and paying some of those profits back to the city, as stipulated under their contract. So
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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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