MISSOULA — While the state has not yet released this year’s appraisal values, Missoula County is aiming to keep any tax increase in the new fiscal year under the rate of inflation, or less than 3.4%.
Officials unveiled the county’s base budget on Thursday, which only included expenses and not incoming revenue. Details on incoming revenue will be provided once the state submits the latest taxable values or the amount of new revenue the county may receive from new developments.
The proposed budget of $80.4 million represents a 3% increase over the previous year.
County CAO Chris Lounsbury stated, “We’re committed to keeping any increase in tax bills below the rate of inflation. We expect to be below that threshold again this year.”
While personnel costs are set to increase by $4 million (8.6%) due to new hires in various departments, other expense categories such as operations, debt service, capital improvements, and capital outlay are expected to see decreases ranging from 5.3% to 41%. Overall, the base budget is anticipated to decrease by $10.8 million (7.7%).
“We have a $10 million decrease in our budget, primarily concentrated in one-time expenses,” said county CFO Andrew Czorny. “We have an ongoing increase of about $3 million, for which we’ll need to find funding or revenue, or make further budget cuts.”
Requests for ongoing budget items this year range from $231,000 for Crime Victim Advocates to $118,000 for the county’s grants department.
Revenue will need to be sourced to cover cost increases, including a 5% rise in medical costs driven by pharmacy increases and potentially requiring additional mills for revenue generation.
Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis is expected to unveil her executive budget for the new fiscal year on Monday, alongside the state’s new taxable values.
For more details and comments on the FY 25 budget, click here.
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