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 that 79% of the $4.4 million would go to wage increases for existing employees and that most of those increases are concentrated in police and fire. Bickle said “95%” of the tax increase would address wages and contractual inflation, leaving roughly 5% for new items.

The proposed capital program includes tens of millions in tax-funded spending across multiple funds and about $121.5 million in property-tax-supported expenditures over the period shown in the administration’s slides. Bickle highlighted short-term projects already underway—Orange and Craig signal improvements, the Scott and Phillips roundabout, planning for the South Avenue Safe Streets for All project, trail lighting funded by the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, and water-main replacement investments that the city is “inching closer to” doing at a $10 million-per-year pace.

Bickle also described facility projects and site work, including planning/site acquisition related to Fire Station 6, continued work on the Engen Building with Brownfields funds for abatement, the near-complete expansion of a city service facility, and an expanded composting facility funded by ARPA.

Council members pressed staff for more granular materials. Councilor Stacy Anderson asked for a slide isolating the general fund and its breakout (separate from road, park and other districts) so residents can better see the portion that appears as the city share on property tax bills. Councilor Bob Campbell pressed staff on remittance projections and the portion of one-time revenue built into the mayor’s plan.

Bickle described a package of one-time and remittance revenues that staff are using to help balance FY2026: the mayor’s proposal includes $3 million of one-time revenues to the general fund, of which about $1 million would be applied to directly eligible capital or debt payments and the remaining $2 million would be a remittance to the city’s general fund. He said the total remittance to taxing jurisdictions related to the administration’s calculations would be roughly $6 million to deliver roughly $2 million to the general fund.

On reserves, Bickle said the city’s stated goal is a fund balance target equal to 7% of ongoing revenues (about $5.1 million in the general fund). He said FY2025 results produced about $2.4 million in savings plus modestly stronger revenues but that the city remains “about halfway” to that goal and does not plan to draw down fund balance to operate in FY2026.

Bickle and staff told council members they are continuing to analyze certified property values received from the state Department of Revenue and expect updated, more detailed impact information at the council continuation on Aug. 11 and the committee work sessions on Aug. 13.

The hearing was opened for public comment; no members of the public spoke on the budget at the Aug. 4 meeting. The hearing remains open and will resume at continued meetings before final adoption is scheduled for Aug. 18. The administration noted the city has statutory deadlines for adoption but said Aug. 18 is the council’s last regularly scheduled meeting before the statutory date.