Over the past few months I have received quite a few emails in my city commission mailbox from local constituents with the subject line, ‘Reaffirm your commitment to America’s closest ally, Israel.‘ The content of the email is the same but from many different local folks concerned about the ongoing war in Israel. You can…
Not only are taxes inevitable – it can be hard to understand how they get calculated, assessed, and collected. The finger pointing concerning taxes in Montana is in full swing – counties blaming cities, the state blaming counties and cities, cities blaming the state, state legislators blaming county and city commissioners, county and city commissioners…
We often hear the phrase ‘existential threat’ applied to various entities in various situations, but the meaning of that phrase is sometimes vague and misunderstood. The modern state of Israel faces an actual existential threat right now, today, and has faced that threat every moment of every day since its establishment in 1948, being surrounded…
On Sunday I received the following message and picture from a Great Falls resident: “Hey Rick we went to watch 50 Watt Sun (at the Beacon) last night and under the train bridge this is what we saw! Who need to clean this mess up? I hate that this is happening in the city I…
Last week the Great Falls City Commission voted 4-0 (Mayor Kelly was not present) to accept the City Manager’s FY24 budget which includes adopting the proposed total allowable property tax increase of 4.38%. The approved proposal includes the 1.92% permissive medical levy and the 2.46% inflationary factor increases. Those increases would equate to the following…
No one likes paying taxes. I certainly don’t. I don’t like handing over my hard earned money to pay for billions in foreign aid to countries that hate us and billions and billions for wars in which we have no business. I especially don’t like handing over my hard earned money to pay debt service…
There have been a number of questions from the community about the IRS/ATF raid on a Great Falls gun store. In response, here is some further information concerning the involvement of the Great Falls Police Department in that event. First here is a a screenshot of the email that city commissioners received from GFPD Captain…
Over the past week I have been contacted and asked by several Great Falls citizens whether or not the Great Falls Public Library is planning to host and sponsor events for ‘Pride Month’ this June, as they have in the past. E-City Beat published a blog post last Thursday raising a similar question and as…
With a new fiscal year and budget for the City of Great Falls right around the corner, FY24 starts July 1, 2023, I thought it would be a good idea to present a brief refresher on local budget realities. The Great Falls City Commission is very limited by state law when it comes to raising…
At our Great Falls City Commission regular meeting on February 28 the Commission voted unanimously to put a levy request by the Great Falls Public Library on a June 6 special election ballot for Great Falls voters to decide. During the meeting several citizens raised the issue of a ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ video promoted…