City Approves Budget, Mill Levy For Fiscal 2024-25
 | Author:
Linda Kent, MT43 News Staff Reporter
MT43 News Correspondent |
City Approves Budget, Mill Levy for Fiscal 2024-25
Linda Kent
MT43 News Staff Reporter
Townsend’s City Council approved its budget for the current fiscal year on Sept. 2. The general fund expense total for the coming year was set at $871,170, with expected general fund budget revenues expected at $961,850, with an ending cash reserve of $345,802.
Costs related to the implementation of upgrades to the city water system are not detailed in the budget, other than a line item for engineering expenses. While the first increase in city water rates needed to repay the expected $13 million in bonds for the project went into effect Sept. 1, bids for the project have not been let and no bonds have been sold.
Mayor Vickie Rauser told the council that the city’s permit application for the project had been submitted. She also shared that the city was notified it is eligible for $5 million in loan forgiveness for the project. That’s $2 million more than the council originally thought it would receive.
Approximately $187,000 of the city’s general fund budget – around 20 percent – comes from property tax levies. Mayor Vickie Rauser explained that the city’s mill levy is limited by state law at 56.51 mills. For the upcoming year, the city will levy 52.92 mills, 3.59 mills less than it is authorized to. A “mill” is one one-thousandth of a dollar of the taxable property value available to the city council, or $3,452.287.
“In the grand scheme of things, 3.59 mills is not a lot of money,” Rauser said. “But we don’t need it, so we’re not going to levy it.”
