GREAT FALLS – Cascade County Commissioners passed the current fiscal year’s budget this past week.
The 2018/2019 fiscal year’s budget contains about $77 million in expenditures and there is a 5.1 percent increase from last year’s amended budget.
Capital funding for the current year included replacing the grandstands and the paddock club, upgrades to the youth detention center, and investing in the executive plaza.
Normally the county votes on their budget in early September, but the Department of Revenue had to reconfigure the county’s mill values.
“The mill value actually decreased so the value of the mill was less than actually anticipated. Originally we thought we were going to be able to set a budget and not be increasing any taxes, but when the value of the mill goes down, we have to apply all of our mills. We have to apply every mill available and it slightly increased people’s taxes,” Jane Weber, a Cascade County Commissioner, said.
There is also a 68 percent decrease of internal services due to more efficient processes.
Reporting by Margaret DeMarco for MTN News
