Missoula County Fiscal Year 2024 Budget
The Missoula County commissioners adopted the fiscal year 2024 budget on Sept. 7.
The Missoula County commissioners adopted the fiscal year 2024 budget on Sept. 7.
You can find answers to frequently asked questions in the FAQ widget on the right-hand side.
Expected revenue from property taxes to fund the budget is $70.6 million, a 5.4% increase over last year. The CPI inflation rate over the past 12 months is 5.97%.
The $3.6 million increase in tax revenue mainly covers the increase to the County’s base budget needed to sustain current services and operations. Increases to wages and healthcare costs for the County’s 855 FTEs across 30 departments that provide essential government services accounts for most of the base budget increase.
The tax impacts of the adopted budget will differ depending on where a resident lives within the county. For property within Missoula city limits, residents will pay $251 in total County taxes for every $100,000 in assessed property value, or about $21 a month. For properties outside Missoula city limits, residents will pay $314.96 in total County taxes for every $100,000 in assessed property value, or $26.25 a month. (Please note that those numbers reference the total taxes owed per $100,000, not the increase from last year.)
About 85% of Missoula County’s employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, and the County negotiates those agreements in good faith each year and also budgets for increases to non-union employees. This includes increasing wages for employees in chronically understaffed departments that provide critical public safety services, such as sheriff's deputies, detention officers and 9-1-1 dispatchers.
In addition to the base budget, the commissioners approved new requests to improve services and operations. The bulk of these are one-time requests that must be paid for with savings from previous fiscal years so they do not impact property tax bills. The commissioners also approved a handful of new requests to fund ongoing improvements, including new staff.
The commissioners received dozens of requests from departments across the County this year, and they declined to fund $1.84 million in new spending. This includes denying ongoing funding for $1.1 million in requests for 13.5 new full-time positions and four promotions. A detailed list of the approved requests is available under the Documents section on the right-hand side of this page.
The commissioners accepted public comment on the budget until the final budget hearing on Sept. 7.
The Missoula County commissioners adopted the fiscal year 2024 budget on Sept. 7.
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Your Property Tax Break Down
Share Your Property Tax Break Down on Facebook Share Your Property Tax Break Down on Twitter Share Your Property Tax Break Down on Linkedin Email Your Property Tax Break Down linkWhile Missoula County collects taxes for all agencies and jurisdictions in the county, we do not keep all of them. Learn more about the taxes you pay to the County, City, schools and other agencies by viewing a pie chart breakdown for your property at itax.missoulacounty.us.
Below is a breakdown of property taxes and where they go, based on a real tax bill from a house in Lolo in 2022-2023:
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Property Reappraisals Explained
Share Property Reappraisals Explained on Facebook Share Property Reappraisals Explained on Twitter Share Property Reappraisals Explained on Linkedin Email Property Reappraisals Explained linkThe state Department of Revenue (DOR), not Missoula County or the City, calculates residential property appraisals every two years and sends out notices to property owners across the state. Local governments are not involved in this process.
2023 is a reappraisal year. Residents received notices in June with the updated appraised value of their home or property. Click here to see an example of an appraisal notice.
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This process occurs every two years. For those who have lived here for a long time, that may seem frequent. That’s because it is – until 2015, DOR appraised property every six years.
However, this left homeowners vulnerable to market busts, like the 2008 recession. In the early 2010s, Montana homeowners were paying high taxes on houses whose values had dropped significantly.
So, the Legislature approved a new two-year reappraisal cycle to protect taxpayers from market volatility. But this pendulum swings the other way with a market boom, like we have seen since mid-2020.
The County and City have control over how many mills we levy, with limitations (sometimes referred to as the mill cap). When overall property values in an area increase, so does the value of a mill, which is the unit of measurement local governments use to levy taxes. When a mill is worth more, it means a local government can levy fewer of them to bring in the same amount of revenue.
The estimated taxes you see on the DOR notice are based on the number of mills levied last year. Because appraisal values will be much higher this year due to the real estate market and other factors, mill values will also be higher. This means Missoula County and City may be able to levy fewer mills, so the increase to the County and City portion of your taxes will be less than the estimated amount on your DOR notice. See below for a simplified explanation:
Missoula County Public Schools operate under a different system that does not use mills; they instead levy to a specific dollar amount. Property values do not affect how much a school district can levy. Additionally, MCPS is a local agency separate from the City and County.
Frequently Asked Questions
My assessment isn’t correct, or I do not agree with the assessed value. Who do I contact?
File an appeal as soon as you receive your notice; do not wait until you get your tax bill in the fall, because by then it’s too late. There are two ways to file an appeal:
By submitting a Request for Informal Classification and Appraisal Review (Form AB-26) to DOR online at mtab.mt.gov/appealform.
By appealing directly to the local County Tax Appeal Board (CTAB). In Missoula County, you can fill out that application online at mtab.mt.gov/appealform.
What are the City and County spending tax money on?
Taxes fund numerous critical community services, from 9-1-1 and law enforcement to roads and other infrastructure. Visit itax.missoulacounty.us to see a breakdown of how your property taxes are spent.
Residents can have a say in how tax dollars are spent by getting involved in the City and County budget process this summer. Again, don’t wait until you get your tax bill in October; by then it’s too late.
The County will hold public hearings throughout the budget process in July and August. Check missoulacountyvoice.com this summer for information on how you can get involved. City budget process follows this same timeline. Visit engagemissoula.com for more information.
For more information on the County budget, click here. The city’s budget website is ci.missoula.mt.us/109/Budget.
When will I know how many mills the County and City will levy for 2024?
The number of mills (also called the millage rate) is determined along with the final budget for fiscal year 2024. Both City and County budgets are finalized by mid-September. Budget hearings are open to the public.
Read more at missoula.co/reappraisal.
Who's Listening
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Phone 406-258-4919 Email aczorny@missoulacounty.us -
Phone 406-258-3293 Email clounsbury@missoulacounty.us
