Budget

County officials said local residents would have seen a tax decrease this year if not for the increased value of homes. The Legislature's failure to lower the residential tax rate from 1.35% to .94%, as recommended by DOR, also played a role.

In a four-hour show of priorities and opinions, the Missoula City Council on Wednesday considered a long list of amendments to the new city budget that would either add new costs or cut them.

Unreliable equipment and changing expectations around policing are fueling new requests in this year's Missoula Police Department budget, including the need for dependable car and body cameras, and several new vehicles.

One freshman member of the Missoula City Council voted against paying the city's bills this week while criticizing what he believes is a lack of transparency in the budgeting process.

With the budgeting season set to kick off, members of the Missoula City Council this week set the rules that will guide the process and time it with the state's release of its latest tax valuations.