Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Helena presents $112.1 million proposed FY26 budget; commissioners agree to boost Symphony payment
Summary
City Manager Andrew Burton and Director Danielson presented a proposed FY26 preliminary budget that balances with one-time use of reserves, adds a handful of staff positions, and includes proposed capital and sustainability allocations; commissioners agreed to add $5,000 to the city's annual contribution to Helena Symphony.
City Manager Andrew Burton and Director Danielson presented Helena's proposed fiscal year 2026 preliminary budget to the Helena City Commission on June 2, 2025. The proposal shows total revenues and transfers of about $105,170,000 and proposed appropriations and transfers of about $112,146,000, with one-time uses of reserves for certain capital and one-time purchases.
The proposed budget, Danielson said during the presentation, is balanced while using cash reserves only for one-time expenditures and capital. Key line items include roughly $42.2 million for personnel costs, about $20.1 million for capital outlay, and roughly $3.0 million for debt service. The proposal includes 3.38 net new full-time equivalents: a half FTE in the city clerk's office, 0.8875 FTE in the police department for courthouse reserve officers, and two street operator positions.
Why this matters: the preliminary budget sets staffing levels, capital plans and the city's near-term borrowing and service priorities. Commissioners must adopt a preliminary budget and may amend it before final adoption.
Major details and items…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
