GREAT FALLS — In March, MTN News reported that the Great Falls City Commission voted to approve a Public Safety Levy for a November ballot. Nearly six months after election night, public officials are hosting a public forum regarding the questions and concerns of the Public Safety Levy.
The forum will be at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, at the Mansfield Theater in the Great Falls Civic Center.
Exponential growth within the Great Falls city limits has called for an increase in the public safety fiscal budget, according to City Commissioner Eric Hinebauch.
“Within three months of being on the commission, I realized this was something we needed to discuss. We started working through the numbers then and it's taken us an entire year of reviewing what the departments have presented us and going through that.”
Hinebauch also recalled the initial number for the Public Safety Levy wasn’t realistic for the residents of Great Falls. It would break the bank on resident’s property taxes and since then, the commission feels the numbers proposed on the ballot will help Great Falls get ahead of the problem.
Currently, Great Falls Fire Rescue, Great Falls Police Department, and the municipal court services are lacking in funding.
That lack of funding, for example, has pushed Great Falls Fire Rescue to an Insurance Service Office rating of 3. The ISO rating is a 1-10 scale, where the lowest number implies a city has better services. Currently, GFFR is looking to keep its calls under four minutes to all areas of the city and it struggles to answer calls effectively. With the needs of the department and other agencies, Great Falls can see itself decline in that rating, which could impose other homeowner insurance increases.
If passed, the City of Great Falls is authorized to permanently levy up to 103.75 mills, an approximate total of $10,717,305.
According to the City Manager’s office, the levy would impose tax implications on homeowners on an assessed home at a $100,000 basis for an increase of $140.06 per year. For a $300,000 home, the levy would increase taxes to $420.18 per year. Finally, for a $600,000 appraised home, taxes would increase to $840.36 per year. Tax implications that not only fall to homeowners but to renters potentially face rising rental costs.
“This is an opportunity for the community to make a decision on if they want to meet the challenges that we certainly see at the city level and to deal with the consequences if they choose not to,” explained City of Great Falls Mayor, Bob Kelly.
With the expected tax increases if the Public Safety Levy increases, the city is also requesting a Capital Bond. If the bond election is passed, based on the taxable value of the City in the fiscal year 2023, and assuming the bonds are issued in one series at the interest rate of 5.00% per annum, the property taxes on a home with an assessed market value for tax purposes of $100,000 would increase by $22.20 per year; property taxes on a home with an assessed market value for tax purposes of $300,000 would increase by $66.60 per year; and property taxes on a home with an assessed market value for tax purposes of $600,000 would increase by $133.20 per year. An increase in property taxes may lead to a rise in rental costs. This information was provided by the Great Falls City Manager’s Office.
Commissioner Hinebauch used his home as an example which has an assessed market value for tax purposes of around $300,000.
“If we go to a five (ISO rating), it will increase my insurance premiums to about $120 to $130 a year. If we slide to a six (ISO rating), it could be pushing $200 to $230 a year. It's not impacting it yet, but it could if we're not getting ahead of it.”
Hinebauch also shared that he expects Great Falls to continue to grow over the next five years. The conversation of implementing a Public Safety Levy needs to be had to get ahead of the problems, calling it “an investment in Great Falls.”
Mayor Bob Kelly shared that many questions that are brought up to him and the City Commission are ‘What happened to the ARPA and CARES money? Why can’t you use that?’
He shared, “We used it for fire infrastructure and we're using it to build new evidence building for the police. We're using it to refurbish a courtroom to make sure that the courts have two courtrooms to operate because we do have to hire another judge.’ Kelly added, “…we've spent close to $12 million on those infrastructure changes that we don't have to ask the voters for.”
On Wednesday night, GFPD Chief Jeff Newton, GFFR Chief Jeremy Jones, Great Falls City Attorney David Dennis, City Manager Greg Doyon, and Great Falls CFO Melissa Kinzler will be holding a public forum and Q&A. The forum will be held at the Civic Center inside the Mansfield Theater where the public is urged to attend and express comments and concerns.
Mayor Kelly urges people to stay off social media and to come down and ask public officials for the facts behind the Public Safety Levy. He and Hinebauch want everyone to attend.
“The role of the city commission and myself as mayor is not to advocate for this levy. Please be sure that our job as elected officials are to express to the community the needs that we have. it is absolutely their choice. We are trying to educate the public on the decision that they make and we hope they take advantage of that,” added Mayor Kelly.
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