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Stevensville council reviews FY25–26 budget; motion introduced for resolution 574 amid spreadsheet discrepancies
Summary
Council member Wagner moved to approve resolution 574 adopting the FY25–26 budget and wages; staff explained state-formatted budget sheets and council members pressed staff about worksheet formula errors, property tax calculations and specific line items including pumps and EMT training. No final vote appears in the provided transcript.
Council member Wagner moved to approve Resolution 574, “a resolution adopting budget and adopting wages and salaries for the town of Stevensville, Montana, fiscal year 25/26,” and sought a second; the motion was seconded during the meeting but no vote is recorded in the provided transcript.
After the motion, town staff member Robert walked the council through budget worksheets and state-required forms. Robert described the state reporting format and said the town is “spending down more money than we’re taking in the general fund, but we have the cash reserve for it, so it’s still balanced according to the state.” Council members and staff debated differing worksheet presentations — the summary “cheat sheet” included in the packet and the state-formatted worksheet Robert said must be filed with the state — and identified a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar discrepancy between the packet worksheet and the corrected spreadsheet.
Council members asked for line-by-line clarifications. Topics raised included:
- Worksheet totals and formula errors: Council members noted that numbers in the packet’s summary sheet did not match the state-formatted sheet Robert presented; one participant calculated a difference of roughly $202,009 between the packet worksheet and the corrected figure shown by staff.
- Property-tax calculation method: Council members requested whether the property-tax column used assessed or taxable value; staff explained that the state worksheet reconciles assessed and taxable valuations and produces the town’s levy and revenue figure (the packet’s property-tax line was discussed and reconciled to a state-derived figure of about $380,809 according to Robert’s explanation).
- Specific line items: The council asked whether $6,000 pumps mentioned by the public service director were budgeted; staff confirmed the pumps were included (discussion indicated about four pumps). Council members also asked whether $3,000 for EMT training would be reinstated; staff said it could be added but noted process constraints if the budget has not yet been passed.
Council members repeatedly requested that staff “fix” the spreadsheet formulas and provide corrected worksheets; staff said the appropriations and revenue lines that constitute the official budget had not changed and that the state-formatted worksheet is the final submission sheet for state reporting. The meeting transcript does not record a final roll-call vote on Resolution 574 in the provided excerpt.
Next steps recorded in the excerpt included staff providing corrected worksheets and copies to council members; no formal decision or vote outcome is included in the excerpt.
