Glossary

a valuation of property by the estimate of an authorized and knowledgeable person

an estimate of 100 percent of the market value of property

a proposal from a Missoula County elected official or department head for additional funding to be added to their budget that the Board of County Commissioners approves or denies

A group of County leaders and department heads who review department budgets

Funds that have been saved from prior years by Missoula County departments when revenues have exceeded expenses and are available in the following years to fund one-time expenditures

Money received in exchange for a promise to pay installments over time that is generally used to fund large construction, refurbishment and replacement projects like Fort Missoula Regional Park 

a period that a government uses for accounting purposes and preparing financial statements that differs from a calendar year. Missoula County’s fiscal years run from July 1 to June 30.

A monetary charge, typically expressed as a percentage, charged for borrowing money and earned when investing money

the value at which property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller with reasonable knowledge of all the relevant facts

also “mill rate;” a method of expressing the rate or amount of property taxes paid by each taxpayer. One mill is equal to 1/1000th of a dollar.

the expected dollars to be raised from a single mill based on the total taxable value of all properties in the taxing jurisdiction and calculated by the Montana Department of Revenue each year

Revenues or expenditures that will continue indefinitely and require funding each fiscal year

Revenues or expenditures that will only occur for a single period of time and only require funding for the set time period

A dollar amount derived from the assessed/market value of the property multiplied by the applicable property classification tax rate set by the Montana Legislature

In Montana, the state, counties, municipalities, school districts and other special districts such as fire or water districts that can levy property taxes to fund operations

transfers between county departments and account funds to pay for services across departments