Lat week the Great Falls City Commission passed the City’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget. You can view the budget details here.
This year’s budget included a marginal tax increase for local property owners – $2.25 per month for a $300,000 home.
I’ve received several general questions about how our budget works and so I’d like to briefly address those here.
First, can the City reduce spending? The answer is, yes of course it can.
But the better question is this: Can the City reduce spending and continue to maintain the level of public safety, public services, and public amenities that citizens require and expect? That is the balance that must be struck each and every budget cycle, and I am satisfied that we accomplished that difficult balance this year.
So in light of that, I’ve been asked to define in simple terms the only two ways the City can raise taxes for the general fund.
Permissive Medical Levy
Rising health insurance costs for employees have gone up again this year and if we want to attract and retain quality City employees and professional management positions we have to compete in the job market with other municipalities and private sector employers.
The permissive medical mill levy can be used by a political subdivision, like the City of Great Falls, to pay for increased costs of group health insurance benefits for its employees. This year the budget is raising the levy 1.58%, equaling $317,544, to cover the rising cost of City employee health insurance premiums.
Inflationary Factor
Inflation is a very real problem that impacts every City department – the ever-rising cost of the supplies, materials, equipment, and parts it takes to maintain a quality modern city has been, and will continue to be, a major challenge.
Per Montana Code Annotated the City can only raise property taxes via the inflationary factor by half the average rate of inflation for the previous three years. This fiscal year the factor is 2.8%, allowing the City to raise $562,520 for general fund purposes, which includes police, fire, and courts.
Ken Toole, writer and co-founder of the local kooky, far left Democrat wtf406 blog wins “Local Hypocrite of the Year” – hands down.
In his recent rant on wtf406 Toole plops out his phony angst over his 11 year old grandson seeing a “F*** Biden” sign on a pickup truck at an area boat ramp.
Let’s see, “FJB” is objectionable to the guy who helps run “WTF406″. Got it?
An f-bomb sign on a truck at a boat ramp in Montana offends Toole’s delicate sensitivities but a logo and website name that broadcasts out to the the entire internet an acronym that everyone understands as “what the f***” is okay. Yeah, they wink and say the “f” is for “funk”. How clever.
Presumably Toole doesn’t allow his grandson to read his wtf406 blog because the f-bombs there are prolific. Apparently, the bloggers at wtf406 think that cursing on their blog makes them cool and more believable as “activists”. Here are a few examples:
Headline from wtf406 screamer and Cascade County Democratic Central Committee precinct captain, Jasmine Taylor:
And here’s one from Cascade County Democratic Central Committee Chair, Helena Lovick from her 6/24/2024 wtf406 rant: “It is likely one or two fucking pieces of shit putting up those stickers.”
And a couple of more from Jasmine Taylor just from February, this year: “Some might question if it’s wrong to target Neo-Nazis to limit their access to society’s little pleasures. Short answer- Fuck no.” – wtf406 2/14/2024
“The times, they are a…fucking disappointment mostly...Suddenly, a whole swath of people who never gave a fuck about carbon emissions are out holding hands with Greta Thunberg.” – wtf406 2/11/2024
And another from Dem Chair Lovick: “But the city commission wasn’t done fucking around with these volunteer board members.” – wtf406 10/04/2023
One more from Dem Precinct Chair Jasmine Taylor: “Fuck Elon Musk.” (an FEM from WTF!) – wtf406 10/23/2023
Last but not least, here’s a 10/2022 post on the “Jasmine Taylor For Montana” Facebook page, Toole’s wtf406 partner, the place where she regularly promotes the wtf406 nutty, unhinged, profanity laced tirades:
I could go on, and on…and on, but you get the point. If not, then just go to the wtf406 blog and type in the “f” word in their articles search bar, the one with the little magnifying glass.
And of course there is no age disclaimer for the wtf406 blog site – anyone of any age with access to a computer or smartphone can go to the site to read the garbage thereon, including Toole’s 11-year old grandson.
So spare us your phony sermons on how offensive an “FJB” sign is, Ken.
In light of some of the recent chatter around town I thought this would be a good time to offer my own opinion on the character of my hometown.
I grew up in Great Falls in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I raised my own two daughters here and helped to get a couple of my grandkids started right here in the Electric City, so I take strong exception to some of the disparaging, insulting, and divisive comments which have made it into the local news recently about the kind of community this is and people who live here.
Despite what some of the loudest most obnoxious local voices would have you believe, the overwhelming majority of folks in this community are not bigots, homophobes, racists or haters.
I’ve always known the people of Great Falls to be good, kindhearted, give-you-the-shirt-off-their-back kind of folks who couldn’t care less about who you love or the color of your skin.
In Great Falls you will always get a fair shake as long as you’re not a jerk and are willing to work hard and reciprocate that fair treatment with respect and honesty.
Are there jackasses in this town? Sure, just like in any other town. But when someone magnifies the exception and dishonestly and tries to convince others that it’s the rule for their own selfish reasons, we should call it what it is – horse excrement.
So don’t believe the lies, Great Falls. This is a good community filled with good people who believe in the principle of ‘live and let live’, but who also understand that ‘live and let live’ is a two-way street.
Editors note: All of the local Great Falls/Cascade County legislative and county commission contests in the June 4 primary election are Republican. Here are the profiles submitted by the candidates in House District 20, Steven Galloway and Melissa Nikolakakos, unedited:
Steven Galloway
I am Representative Steven E Galloway currently serving my second term in HD24 and campaigning for HD20.
Appointed to Business and Labor , Local Government, Vice Chair Energy and Technologies
I was selected and serve as a State Delegate to The Energy Council, PNWER, NCSL,ALEC and others. I attend as many conferences as possible to gain knowledge and insight from other legislators and experts on subjects from around the country and the world to better represent you. I have zoomed in with The Council on Foreign Relations, The White House Intergovernmental Affairs and other organizations. I have had weeklong zooms with international contributors on issues. I participate on think tanks dealing with licensure, energy, election integrity and workforces decreasing numbers. This is above and beyond my representative’s duties often requiring travel away from home, family and work.
Energy is a very complicated and diverse subject to be involved with and as Vice Chairman I have invested a great amount of time and gained a fair working knowledge of it. We will need to stream line processes to allow prompt development of production and transmission of power to sustain our growing needs. We were an exporter and we now import energy. I passed HB749 Providing for advanced conductor cost-effectiveness criteria to aid our energy needs.
I helped facilitate meetings with local officials prior to last session and continued dialog during session by zoom on Wednesdays at lunch time which benefitted our community.
Almost 50 years ago I started out scrubbing toilets and making beds in my parents motel, I contracted in the construction field for 12 years and we currently operate multiple family run locally owned businesses.
I was born and raised in Great Falls. I am a 3rd generation Montanan and my grandkids 5th.I am married to my lovely wife of almost 43 years. We have 6 adult children with 15 grandchildren and 1 GREAT grandchild. They are my motivation to serve, frankly you couldn’t pay me enough to do this job.
I have refereed and coached sports. Served on boards. Served at church as teacher, counselor, auditor, executive secretary, and currently as facilities rep overseeing 10 church buildings.
I have introduced 43 bills and passed 18 of them into law, Including (2021) session HB-438 for VETERANS and HB 298 which increased transparency on your property tax assessment. I have introduced property tax legislation in both sessions that would have helped primary home owners and we will try again. We need to look at a total revision of the property tax code, focusing on the processes of the valuations and assessments. See them all at leg.mt.gov. Proudly endorsed by Gun Owners of America, NRA, Montana Sports Shooters Association, Montana Family Foundation to name a few. I have also been recognized for my constitutional voting record by CPAC with a 94% score and 100% score withTheFreedomindex.org.
Name: Melissa Nikolakakos Office Sought: House District 20 Occupation: Teacher Age: 41 Family: Husband (George) Daughters (Story, Reagan, Melody, Abigail) Education: BA, University of Montana (Education) Organizational affiliations: Girl Scouts (Unit Service Leader) Raising Readers (Board Member)
As an educator, 4th generation Montanan, mom of four, twenty-year military spouse, and involved community member I pride myself in serving others. I’m running for office to bring common-sense conservative solutions to Helena and create a better community for our kids and families. Born and raised in small-town Montana I want to ensure those time-tested values are at the front and center of our legislative process.
A quality education for our children with deep parental involvement is my passion. I’ve served as a pre-school president, led with the “Raising Readers” Program (since merged by First Lady Susan Gianforte with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library) serve as a Girl Scout Service Unit Leader, and have served countless times as a PTA president. I’m committed to giving back and serving our community and kids and will work tirelessly every day in Helena to that end.
We face many challenges in today’s political climate. Property taxes, inflation, and out of control housing costs are driving families from their homes and real reform is needed now. Fiscal responsibility and low regulation are the centerpieces to a strong economy, the backbone of a healthy opportunity driven society. This next legislative session we must enact significant property tax reform that offers meaningful relief to primary residence home-owners, bolster career and technical education and the Teach Act, and return a significant portion of the budget surplus to taxpayers.
There’s much more but the simple fact is that today both political parties are failing our people. It’s time to retire out of touch self-serving politicians and elect every-day Montanans who want to civilly solve problems rather than create constant conflict and chaos. I’m ready to bring real-world experience and Montana values to Helena to do just that. I look forward to visiting and hopefully earning your vote to serve our community to the best of my ability.
All of the local Great Falls/Cascade County legislative and county commission candidates appearing on the upcoming June 4 primary election ballot will be Republicans.
Today E-City Beat sent an email to all of those candidates requesting a candidate profile and their reasons for seeking office. We will publish their responses without edits or editorial comment
Stay tuned for E-City Beat’s continuing coverage of all local elections, issues, and candidates.
Here is the list of primary election candidates:
HD19 Derren Auger Hannah Trebas
HD20 Melissa Nikolakakos Steven Galloway
HD21 Ed Buttrey James Osterman
HD22 George Nikolakakos James Whitaker
HD23 Pete Anderson Joshua DeNully Eric Tilleman John Proud
SD13 Josh Kassmier Lola Galloway
Cascade County Commission Rae Grulkowski Eric Hinebauch
Editors note: The following is a press release sent out by the Cascade County Libertarian Party. The press release doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinion of E-City Beat or any of our contributors and it is not a campaign endorsement for Tony Rosales.
Leatherbarrow Invites Taylor for an Honest Conversation about Local Family Business
GREAT FALLS, MT, April 24, 2024 – On April 23, 2024, Jasmine Taylor released a video claiming that Kevin Leatherbarrow, co-owner of Go & Grow Education Services, LLC, was using Tony Rosales’ campaign to funnel business from Great Falls Public Schools to Go & Grow. Taylor never reached out to Leatherbarrow or anyone else at Go & Grow to verify these accusations. It is shocking, and frankly sad, that anybody would attack a local family-owned business based on weak political attacks and motives. To Leatherbarrow’s knowledge, Taylor lacks any true understanding of the relationship between Go & Grow and GFPS.
Taylor’s accusations are defamatory in nature and assume that Go & Grow would use a political campaign to gain any advantage. In fact, Leatherbarrow has publicly stated during an Autism Task Force that he would work pro bono with students who were lacking services if asked. The Task Force was formed by Lola Galloway – a Republican representative – where Leatherbarrow – representing Go & Grow – was invited among other community leaders including GFPS administration and nonprofit employees.
Taylor is mistaken in her accusation that there is any intention to vilify GFPS or its employees. Leatherbarrow and Rosales are consistently transparent about their involvement as Libertarian candidates, and officers of the Cascade County Libertarian Party, which are protected expressions of speech under the first amendment. Both have a passionate interest in education and the fiscal responsibility and transparency of the Great Falls Public School District, the Board, and the administration, as they are both residents within the district. None of those have any relation to the operations of Go & Grow Education Services.
Leatherbarrow would like to invite Taylor to contact him if she would like more accurate information for her political reporting endeavors. Any other community members who may have questions are also invited to reach out to Leatherbarrow.
About the CCLP
The Libertarian Party is the people’s representative in American politics. It is the only political organization which respects people as unique and competent individuals.
The Cascade County and Montana Libertarian Parties are the real choice for less government, lower taxes, and a freer future. The CCLP believes in both economic and personal freedom. We believe people should be free to make their own choices, provided they don’t infringe on the equal right of others to do the same. Government’s role should be to protect an individual’s right to make their own choices in life, so they can reap the rewards of their successes and bear personal responsibility for their decisions.
Contact Us
For questions, please contact the CCLP Chair: Anthony Rosales, PhD trrosales@gmail.com
Sorry, but that complaint is kind of misleading, because gaming licenses are tied to liquor/alcohol licenses which are controlled by the state and apportioned to communities according to population.
Think Whack-a-Mole. One has to close before another pops up. We haven’t had any “new” additional casinos here for a long time.
I’ve said this before, but because of the misperception about how our local economy works I’ll say it again: The City Commission has no legal authority to prevent any business, including a casino, from opening as long as that business meets all of the safety, permitting, zoning and state licensing requirements.
It is a common misunderstanding that the City of Great Falls local government picks and chooses which kinds of businesses we allow to open and operate here. We do not.
How many times have you heard, “Why don’t they bring in (fill in the blank)?”
There is no “they”. This is a free market economy and the kinds of businesses that open and succeed or fail in Great Falls is determined by market forces, not the City Commission or City Manager etc.
Local government can help shape the regulatory, development, and tax environment to a certain degree, but beyond that it’s up to what the marketplace will support.
If you don’t like the kinds of businesses or developments “they” are “bringing in” to Great Falls and think “they” should “bring in” the kind of businesses or developments you would like to see here, then here’s a suggestion:
Put a business plan together, invest your own money, apply for a big ol’ loan, or get a group of investors together and open that business or build that housing subdivision.
Put some of your own skin in the game – then maybe you’ll understand what a huge risk it is and how hard it is to actually start and run a profitable enterprise.
Editors note: The following press release was received by E-City Beat Monday morning. We are publishing it without edits or editorial comment. The press release doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinion of E-City Beat or any of our contributors and it is not a campaign endorsement for Tony Rosales.
Emphasizing Constructive Change While Acknowledging Good Faith Efforts of All Parties
GREAT FALLS, MT, April 8, 2024 – In recent weeks, Tony Rosales has engaged in critical discussions regarding an identified conflict of interest (link), speaking with both school administrators and members of the involved non-profit. A summary of findings are as follows:
· Lance Boyd, the Executive Director for Student Achievement and Director of Student Services at GFPS, previously held positions on the board and as chair of the organization Peace Place
· In February 2024, Boyd resigned from his role at Peace Place, indicating a key reason for his departure included scheduling conflicts between school board and non-profit board meetings
· Peace Place receives funding from various sources including government grants, with the majority coming from grant application programs and a smaller portion from funding that follows students
· Boyd’s role in any fund transfers or referrals of children and families to community resources have additional oversight mechanisms beyond the Director of Student Services’ purview
· Peace Place’s aims to provide “respite with a purpose,” which is a unique community offering defined as support and supervision to provide temporary relief to a primary caregiver
· Peace Place also provides educational services, albeit this is not their main mission
· Both Superintendent Tom Moore and Executive Director Lance Boyd emphasized that administrators are highly encouraged to be involved in the community and to serve on non-profit boards that align with their passions
Acknowledging the Executive Director’s resignation, it is still evident there was a past conflict of interest with GFPS’ commitment to students. Holding dual roles that have substantially overlapping responsibilities posed substantial risk to GFPS. Any risk, known or unknown, associated with Peace Place was inextricably linked to GFPS, and had the potential to impose significant legal costs despite our current budget deficits. While we can advocate for community involvement of our administrators, it must come with School Board oversight rather than individual discretion.
The significant community response, including over 1,000 social media engagements and numerous private messages expressing concern, underscores the need for greater oversight and evaluation, especially for special education programs and external community resources.
This situation illustrates the critical need for more assertive leadership from the school board. To rebuild trust within the community, we urge the school board to take immediate and transparent action by:
· Publicly addressing this conflict of interest, including the board’s prior knowledge and stance on such external appointments
· Providing a comprehensive list of cabinet members’ involvement in other organizations, possible conflicts of interest within that list and GFPS, and clarifying if the board approves
· Developing and implementing robust conflict of interest policies to better mitigate risk, including an approval procedure ensuring awareness of administrative engagements within the community
The E-City Beat✓ article correctly identified the two folks who together donated the bulk of ‘Yes for Libraries’ PAC funding and their relationships to the library director and library board chair. Hard to argue with the truth, so Taylor tries to reframe it with hyperbolic attacks on E-City Beat✓.
Philanthropy? Why didn’t those donors give $130,000 directly to the library instead? That would have more than covered the $120,000 projected budget shortfall for FY2024. The library had no problem accepting $300,000 last fall from an anonymous donor through the Great Falls Library Foundation to cover a budget shortfall when the library director failed to account for increases in electrical and personnel costs. Increases she claims took her by surprise but there is evidence that she would have known about those costs. But instead of taking that under consideration and planning for those increased costs, she continued spending money with her hiring spree for new library personnel.
Seems to me that if pointed out to them, many folks in Great Falls would note the distinction between pure philanthropy and money spent to support a political agenda. It happens far too often that the side with the most money wields the political influence and that’s what happened in this library levy election. The two donors mentioned funded a ballot issue POLITICAL Action Committee to a push the pro-levy narrative and win an election. So don’t be fooled by Taylor’s attacking E-City Beat✓ as being anti-philanthropic— it’s simply obfuscation.
‘Yes for Libraries’ TV ads used the cuteness factor of children. One ad featured a cute child exclaiming, “learn me to read”— definitely an appeal to emotion. False reporting by local legacy media that the library would close its doors if the levy wasn’t passed undoubtedly duped some voters. I noticed that the library director, the library board and ‘Yes for Libraries’ didn’t step up to correct that misnomer. Of course not, it was a huge gift in their favor.
In fact, what many Great Falls voters failed to grasp, due to the spin by ‘Yes for Libraries’ and local media, is that levy was meant to fund a huge EXPANSION of the library’s mission and services.
The director and board were determined to tread into social services waters when the Montana Code Annotated defines a public library’s purpose as the following — “to give the people of Montana the fullest opportunity to enrich and inform themselves through reading.” Seems a venture into providing social services would therefore be unlawful under the MCA. I would also opine, given the library’s usage and patron numbers, an expansion appeared unwarranted.
So no, dear readers, I’m not going to stop beating the drum on the fact that voters were misled by pro-levy proponents, including the media, about the library levy. It is something we should NEVER forget.
For some time now, I’ve also noticed that Taylor repeatedly attacks the ‘Liberty and Values MT’ organization for their billboards against the library levy, which included both the word “no” and the red strike-through symbol — messaging that no doubt could be perceived as a double negative. But keeping her proper English theme, it seems a bit hypocritical of Taylor to criticize that when she’s used “canvas” and “canvass” interchangeably throughout several of her blog entries about elections. I’ve included a screen shot of one of her headlines as an example. Perhaps she’ll just blame the autocorrect.
Taylor appears to do little to no research or fact checking. Her latest error — incorrectly identifying a new hire at the elections office as Beth Cummings and tying this person, who isn’t Cummings, to one of her Election Protection Committee conspiratorial narratives. In particular, the conspiracy where she equates library levy opposition to being anti-library. It seems Taylor doesn’t have the discernment to understand that those two concepts aren’t the same and can actually co-exist. But not being able to grasp something like that is true of much of the leftist rhetoric these days.
Then there’s Jake Sorich, who is one of the newer hires for the Great Falls Public Library. He’s their communications person and he also has a Substack account where he posts his musings.
His recent effort, ‘Powerful people will start to listen if you raise your voice enough’, is an uninformed piece about local politics. In it, he writes, “Locally, we have seen elected officials repeatedly try to overturn the will of the people for what THEY want. And yes, I’m talking about the local levies. Certain officials have expressed their desire to take the money granted for one organization in a levy the people voted to approve, and dump it into other public entities that had their levy fail. (Even if they disagree, that’s essentially what would have happened no matter what anyone wants you to believe otherwise.)”
Pretty obtuse to not name names. Wonder who and what he’s referring to in his piece.
Could it be Sorich is referring to Great Falls City Commissioner Tryon as the elected official, and his efforts to reexamine the 1993 agreement between the city and the library board which granted the library 7 mills? If so, he needs to do some research before spouting off.
Get a clue — “the people” never voted for that 7 mills; it was never on a ballot. It was voted on by the city commission and the library board. That’s why it is called “7 mills by agreement” in nearly every city and library reference. So much for Sorich’s “overturn of the will of the people.”
Yet regarding the actual overturn of the will of the people that occurred when two county commissioners took election duties away from the Clerk/Recorder AND ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR less than a year after the will of the people elected someone to that combined position — crickets from Sorich.
