It’s Hump Day! Today is Wednesday, September 20, 2023, and here are the topics I am providing commentary about:
- Fire And Emergency Services Levy
- Tryon Doubles Down
- No Budget, No Pay Act
- Football Roundup
FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES LEVY:
According to the Montana Free Press (MTFP), the Missoula City Council on Monday voted to remove the fire and emergency services levy from the November ballot. The Council cited uncertainty and apprehension around upcoming property tax bills from the state.
The decision to cancel the levy has nothing to do with the department’s needs and “everything” to do with the “absolutely untenable” property tax situation created by the Legislature, Mayor Jordan Hess said.
Do the Great Falls City Commissioners have the guts to pull the Public Safety Levy and Bond from the November ballot? They should.
There are reports that if the Great Falls Public Safety Levy passes, taxes on a $200,000 home would increase by $280.11 per year. If the Bond request passes, the taxes will increase even more!
If the Great Falls Public Safety Levy/Bond is on my ballot, my vote is a solid ‘No,” It’s just too much.
Check out the report from the MTFP HERE.
TRYON DOUBLES DOWN:
I happened to catch a blog post from What The Funk 406 (WTF406.com) about Great Falls City Commissioner Rick Tryon, who is running for reelection this November. The headline, “Tryon Doubles Down on Double-Digit Tax Increase” kind of tells the story of Tryon as rookie city commissioner, whom I think is way in over his head.
WTF406 says that:
Tryon has long championed the proposed safety levy, despite its astronomical price tag. When first presented with tier options for the levy, Tryon vocally supported the largest price tag, coming out to about a 191% property tax increase. Having angered Republicans and Democrats alike, Tryon tried to walk back his big-tax dreams, instead opting for the current version of the safety levy.
The proposed safety levy includes a massive tax increase for property owners. The City Commission settled on a whopping 65% property tax increase, and sent that proposal to the ballot. They also authorized spending $150,000 of OUR tax money to convince voters to support the levy.
Then, WTF406 asks several questions:
As Tryon seeks re-election, will his high tax policies effect his popularity with Republicans? What’s happened to the “tighten-your-belts” narrative that Tryon and his party ascribe to?
Has Tryon and his tax increase finally become too extreme for Great Falls Republicans? The answer will likely determine if you can afford to pay your taxes next year.
Great questions! I know how I will be voting in November.
Read the blog post HERE.
NO BUDGET, NO PAY ACT:
Just about every time we begin to feel autumn in the air, U.S. Senator Steve Daines unveils his gimmick “to prevent members of Congress from getting paid if they do not pass a budget and all 12 appropriations bills before September 30, the end of the fiscal year.”
Yawn.
If there’s anyone in the country who can handle missing a few paychecks, it’s a member of Congress.
Back in 2020, Open Secrets reported:
Congress is an exclusive club. It’s also a wealthy one. More than half of those in Congress are millionaires, data from lawmakers’ most recent personal financial disclosures shows. The median net worth of members of Congress who filed disclosures last year is just over $1 million.
FOOTBALL ROUNDUP:
I ended up subscribing to the NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube so I will be able to watch my Kansas City Chiefs play on Sunday when the local stations decide to air other games. It was pretty easy to find my game on Sunday and there were no glitches. As for the other games on Sunday, I have the NFL RedZone channel through the DirecTV Sports Package to keep me occupied. YOLO!
The Montana Griz and Montana State Bobcats start Big Sky Conference play this weekend. Both teams are on the road. The Griz play Northern Arizona at 2:00 p.m. Mountain time and the Bobcats play Weber States at 6:00 p.m. Mountain time. Check out the Big Sky Conference website HERE.
As for my Missouri Tigers, they beat #15 Kansas State on a last-second 61-yard field goal. Epic! This week they play Memphis at the Dome in St. Louis. Both teams are 3-0. The game starts at 5:30 Mountain time.
The Western Word 
What’s that giant sucking sound? It’s Rick sucking up to the powers that be. He apparently doesn’t comprehend that the position he holds is elected, not appointed……..or anointed. He may finally find himself back on the street at ground zero scouring the political want ads for another office to fun for like the good old days. Dog catcher maybe? He hasn’t run for that yet, has he? Sycophancy has its benefits but it doesn’t win elections.
Or maybe with his MAGA credentials, Ms. Merchant can create a job for him as election denier in residence in her office. She’s always looking for a few good nut jobs. And Rick has experience.
This levy election will be a definitive IQ test for the MAGAs in Great Falls. They don’t appear to be any more financially secure than the rest of us. So if they pass it, it will prove that they are stupid beyond redemption. And if that’s the case, we may be screwed for the foreseeable future. They’re too stupid to understand, as WTF406 so eloquently points out, that the levy will actually make things worse!
In some fairness to Tryon, the original recommendations of his Crime Task Force did include a number of general measures aimed at preventing crime in the first place, aimed at providing or at least supporting addiction and mental health resources, and etc.
However, just as soon as the new commission took their seats in early 2022, the new commissioners led by McKenney and Wolff pretty much refused to review the list of CTF recommendations, saying the list way was too long and would require too much work. Then later or maybe at a subsequent meeting new commissioner Hinebauch piped up, “Safety levy!” and everyone eagerly jumped on board. All those other recommendations were promptly forgotten and now slowly rot away in a circular file somewhere. Tryon’s year long Crime Task Force process had reached its pre-determined conclusion : More cops on the street busting more heads. (Fire dept. stuff was added later.)
Feb 15 2022 commission work session – Read the minutes and weep as our new commissioners shirk the work, or watch the video for full effect:
https://greatfallsmt.net/citycommission/work-session-meeting-february-15-2022
IMO the Great Falls commissioners and city manager are not about to pull the safety levy, because they are absolutely salivating over the prospect of a huge windfall due to the fact that “up to” 103.75 mills is worth far more now after the property reevaluations than it was when they first wrote the ballot question. Like $3 million more than the $10.7 million/yr the department heads said they needed. They absolutely knew the total dollar number would be considerably larger when they approved the mills number.
Just like the maxed out library levy budget for next year, where the city staff and commissioners showed their true colors regarding “up to” language in ballot questions, our tax-and-spend commission will TAX every last possible red cent out of local homeowner pockets and businesses where the the money those 103.75 mills represent used to go. They will then SPEND it by expanding the scope and definition of what they told us police, fire, and courts absolutely “need”. The “Good+” option they settled on will magically start creeping up toward the “Better ” tier with more money to pack more new employees and their benefits onto the public feed trough, as well as take some pressure off the General Fund.
They have proved they cannot be trusted to show restraint in the “up to” language, and have illustrated their dishonesty in occasionally gaslighting us, “We don’t necessarily have to levy all the mills”. Tryon was not the only one vocally championing the largest $30 million “best” option. Mayoral candidate McKenney kinda led that charge, calling it the “absolute minimum” needed. (It was illuminating to see how little every one of them understood the impact of a $30M tax increase when they were initially rah-rahing that “best” option. )
But IMO “tax-and-spend Tryon” will be re-elected. I’ve seen no consensus support for any of the alternatives. It’s not enough to vote against him if the no votes are all spread out. Would be interesting to see a compilation of all the tax increases and fee increases this alleged “anti-tax conservative” has voted yea on in his first term. It’s not inconsiderable. Not that it will matter. As long as you are hating on anything remotely “woke” and the homeless, you have a guaranteed certain number of MAGA hater votes. No matter how much money you are taking out of their pockets.