Missoula council opens FY2026 budget hearing as administration outlines $200M spending plan

City staff opened the Missoula City Council public hearing on the fiscal year 2026 budget on Aug. 4, with the hearing to remain open through the council's scheduled deliberations on Aug. 18.

Dale Bickle, the city's chief administrative officer, told the council the FY2026 package combines operating and capital spending across tax-supported funds and utilities and is “right at about $200,000,000.” He said the administration is proposing roughly a 3.5% increase in property-tax revenues that would generate about $4.4 million in new property-tax dollars.

Bickle said the mayor’s proposal prioritizes financial sustainability and investments while applying a “cost-of-living lens” to departmental budgets. “We are projecting about a $2,400,000 savings over budgeted appropriations in the general fund,” he said, and added the budget aims to reduce a multi-year structural deficit through savings, contract renegotiations and careful hiring.

The administration presented a broad allocation of the proposed new property-tax revenue, showing…