Kalispell City Manager Pushes Back on Bills to Limit Levies During Hearing in Helena 

Two bills that would transform the way communities adopt local levies and bonds garnered pushback from municipal leaders across the state Wednesday during a hearing before the Senate Local Government Committee in Helena, including from Kalispell City Manager Doug Russell. 

Both measures are sponsored by Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, who introduced Senate Bill 204 as a means of providing voters with the opportunity to reconsider mill levies they’ve previously voted on and “see whether that’s something they want to continue” in their community. SB 204 would limit mill levies, or property tax levies, to a maximum of 10 years without voter reapproval, terminating any existing mill levies unless they are extended by passing another vote. 

More than 31 people from across the state testified in opposition to the bill, including Russell, as well as other stakeholders representing fire departments, the Montana Association of Counties, Montana Federation of Public Employees, local school boards and associations, chambers of commerce, and others. 

Russell referenced the initiative Kalispell voters passed last March to approve a $4.6 million public safety levy that was clearly worded as permanent. Under SB 204, the emergency responder levy to hire additional law enforcement, medical and firefighting personnel in Kalispell would sunset in six years, Russell said, and “does not allow for long-term planning.”  

“This bill doesn’t move the goal post; it changes the game for those past levies,” Russell said. 

With comments limited to two minutes, opponents of the measure spoke of its “unintended consequences,” including the challenges it would present to fire departments, schools, recreation, and other publicly funded institutions to craft long-term plans, compounding the staffing and funding shortages many municipal governments already experience.  

Deborah Silk, associate executive director for the Montana School Boards Association, said the bill would jeopardize over $200 million in previously approved levies that support public school budgets, calling them up for reauthorization by voters.  

“It destabilizes the very foundation of our current public school system, which currently relies upon, as most of you know, local levies to support our local schools,” Silk said.  

Fire chiefs from across the state testified against the bill, saying it would destabilize public safety institutions that already face staffing shortages. Joel Gaertig, speaking on behalf of the Montana State Firefighters Association, said Montana’s growing population underscores the need for firefighter staffing, infrastructure and equipment that relies heavily on the levy system.  

“We believe this measure would be detrimental to public safety,” Gaertig said. “Having to plan for a pass or failure of a public safety measure every 10 years could be a nightmare.”  

Hertz introduced SB 204 alongside a companion bill, SB 205, which sets a voter-turnout threshold that must be met for a district to pass a levy or bond, which Hertz said would encourage voter turnout.  

If voter turnout does not exceed 40%, under SB 205, any levy would automatically be rejected. If a bond or levy receives a minimum 50% turnout of the qualified voter population, it requires a simple majority to pass. If more than 40% but less than 50% of the population turned out to vote, it can only be approved if 60% of qualified voters cast ballots in its favor.  

Many of the same opponents who testified against SB 204 doubled down on their concern relative to SB 205, with the Montana School Board Association official describing it as a “one-two punch with the other bill,” creating an uphill battle for schools, public safety, city workers, and other services to receive public funding.  

Although no one spoke in favor of SB 204, a single proponent testified in favor of SB 205. Daniel Cox, government affairs director of the Montana Association of Realtors, said the measure provides flexibility to residents whose property taxes have doubled in recent years. 

Russell, for his part, remained unmoved. 

“I’m all for voter turnout and getting as many people as involved as we can,” Russell said, referencing Kalispell’s “Be Informed and Vote” campaign last year. However, he warned of numerous variables that can affect voter turnout and produce further unintended consequences.  

“We cannot control the activity of our public no matter how hard we try,” he said. 

Hertz described the measure as a form of checks and balances on levies that pass with low voter turnout during off-cycle elections, as well as a manner of clearing up what he described as a common misconception among voters: that their decision not to cast a ballot on a levy proposal automatically counts as a vote against it. 

The senate committee has yet to take action on either bill.  

[email protected]