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…
Cascade County Republicans won every single race on the ballot in the 2022 election. It was a jaw-dropping result given that Cascade County and Great Falls were once considered to be a Blue stronghold, sending a majority of Democrats every cycle to Helena. Those days are long gone now I suspect, for two main reasons:…
Last week I received an email in my City Commission inbox from a city resident urging a phase-out of fossil fuels for cooking and heating from our homes and businesses right here in Great Falls. Below is the text of the email as well as my response. I’m leaving out the senders name here, even…
Well, Great Falls friends and neighbors, there’s some good news and there’s some bad news. Good News First According to a recent analysis by the City of Great Falls Planning and Community Development Department new construction and building permits are not just on an upward trend over the past year, they’re up by a lot….