BOZEMAN — Dollars? Mills? What’s the difference? Well, Bozeman finance officials say the difference means a budget deficit for city safety services.
"We had two mills in our general fund for police and fire staffing, and those—compared to what we budgeted for fiscal year 2026, came in a lot lower as a result of those changes," says city finance director, Melissa Hodgett.
HB20, once passed, changed the way levies are expressed, from mills to dollars.
Mills rise at a rate higher than inflation. Whereas dollars restrict levies to a fixed one-dollar amount plus a small percent of inflation.
City officials say these changes dropped the total taxable value in the city by 9%--creating a deficit of $1.7 million.
"So instead of $9.5 million, is what we expected and budgeted, we’re expecting about $7.8 million."
And as we heard earlier this week from Bozeman police chief, Jim Veltkamp, as the city grows, the need for safety services grows too.
"We’re seeing an increasing number of calls and cases and an increasing number of more substantial crimes. And certainly, and increasing number of felonies. I would say the rate of crimes happening per population is remaining relatively consistent," he says.
Recognizing the growing safety needs of an expanding community, the Bozeman City Commission looked to other sources to make up the funding shortfall.
"The city has been holding back 9 mills related to 911,"
These mills were set aside two decades ago as an attempt to ease the taxpayer burden when funding a 911 dispatch center.
WATCH: Montana tax law changes leave Bozeman facing budget deficit
On Tuesday the commission voted to repeal the 2006 decision and use 4.5 of those mills to fund the deficit. And What was worth about $600,000 then is worth $1.9 million now.
"The environment has changed since 2006. And the legislature has made significant changes that largely are good and will benefit the taxpayer but required the city to make some tough choices," says Hodgett.
She adds that, with inflation, the raising the cost of healthcare and union costs—funding will remain a challenge.
"We don’t know what the changes in tax rates will do next year yet, so it will be an ongoing conversation that we have with the city commission," she says.
