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Lewistown officials explain how emergency declaration triggers two‑mill levy
Summary
Commissioners and staff reviewed how a city emergency declaration interacts with the locally available two‑mill emergency levy, what triggers spending, and whether the city has existing emergency funds.
City of Lewistown officials spent substantial time explaining how a locally authorized two‑mill emergency levy works and what must happen before the city can collect and spend that tax.
The discussion centered on rules in the Montana Code Annotated (MCA) and on a practical question posed by a member of the public about whether the city can “pre‑mill” or perpetually collect the two mills without an actual emergency. Staff said the critical step is an emergency declaration: the commission must declare an emergency before the city may levy the two mills and spend proceeds under that authority. If the city mills a tax but does not spend it in the year of the levy, the surplus is held in an emergency fund and can be spent in a later emergency year without remilling.
Why it matters: the two‑mill emergency levy is the main locally available mechanism discussed for covering unbudgeted emergency costs (examples raised included snow removal and localized flooding). Commissioners asked how often the levy has been used and whether the city already has an emergency fund. Staff said the city currently has no money in a dedicated emergency fund and would need to create the account if mills were collected.
Key details and limits discussed included: - The declaration must precede collection: officials repeated that you cannot levy for an emergency before the commission declares one. A pre‑declaration can be filed to put state resources on notice, but to expend levy proceeds the emergency must be declared and the legal steps followed. - Yearly limit and typical dollar scale: speakers referenced the two mills and gave an example calculation (an 18,000 figure was cited repeatedly as an illustrative upper bound for a town‑scale two‑mill yield in the discussion), but staff cautioned that exact revenue depends on assessed value and mill rate calculations. - Carryover rules: if the city mills and does not spend the full amount, leftover funds are retained in the emergency fund and may be used later; the levy itself is not automatically perpetual.
The meeting included questions about whether the city could predeclare seasonal emergencies (for example, a predicted winter storm) to position state resources and whether doing so would benefit the city’s access to state resilience funds. Staff said counties sometimes file predeclared seasonal notices to assist state planning and prepositioning of resources; doing so may help if an emergency occurs but does not obligate the city to spend levy proceeds if no qualifying costs arise.
The discussion did not result in a formal motion or vote on a mill levy or declaration; it functioned as an informational session and public Q&A about the statutory process and budgeting implications.
Next steps noted by staff included drafting or sharing sample predeclaration forms and maintaining careful records if the commission wishes to pursue a predeclaration or use the two‑mill authority in the future.
