Missoula council adopts FY2026 budget with modest tax increase, approves fee changes

Missoula's City Council on Aug. 18 approved the fiscal year 2026 budget, levies and a suite of fee and assessment resolutions after a public hearing and multiweek review of revenues and expenditures. The budget package passed in separate roll-call votes, with the main annual appropriations measure approved 11-0.

Council President Cheryl Sherrill opened the council's public hearing and turned the presentation over to Dale Bickle, the city's chief administrative officer, who outlined revenue adjustments provided by the State Department of Revenue and several changes since the mayor's executive proposal.

Bickle said the adopted package represents a 3.39% increase in city property-tax collections from existing taxpayers, equal to roughly $2.4 million in additional mill revenue for the city. He told the council the overall general fund in the adopted budget is about $88.1 million, tax-related activities total about $121 million, and the city's full operating budget (including utilities and enterprise funds) is about $200 million. "This budget is a 3.39% increase in property tax funds," Bickle said, adding that most residential property owners will see a net reduction in their city portion of the tax bill because of changes in state-assessed taxable values; he cited an approximate $257 decrease for a median-value home in the city portion of the bill.

Why it matters: The adopted budget moves the city toward its reserve goal and reduces a structural deficit, while still increasing taxes on the city's portion of property collections. Bickle said estimated fund balance for FY26 is $3.4 million (up from the adopted FY25 assumption) and the structural deficit improved from roughly $3 million to $2.5 million.