Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Finance Master Fee Schedule topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Belgrade council adopts FY2026 master fee schedule, effective July 1
Summary
The Belgrade City Council adopted Resolution 2025-15 to adopt a consolidated FY2026 master fee schedule on a unanimous vote, moving some city service costs from general taxpayers to users and setting the schedule to take effect July 1, 2025.
The Belgrade City Council on a unanimous voice vote adopted Resolution 2025-15 to approve a consolidated fiscal year 2026 master fee schedule, setting an effective date of July 1, 2025. The action follows three rounds of staff review and public discussion.
City staff told the council that the schedule brings together fees that had previously been spread across departments and that several fees are new in order to recover staff time and direct charges to users of the services rather than the general taxpayer. Staff also said a small number of fees were still missing from the packet and would be returned to the council for later inclusion.
During the hearing staff described the current late-fee language, which allows charging $17 each time a notice is mailed plus 1.5% of the past-due balance, and noted that the proposed $25 flat late fee would in many cases reduce total charges to customers. The council also discussed the readability of the published fee schedule; staff agreed to post an enlarged, user-friendly version on the city website.
No members of the public spoke during the hearing. The motion to adopt the master fee schedule was moved and seconded and carried on a unanimous voice vote. Officials said the fees were benchmarked against several other Montana cities and counties during the development process.
The council did not adopt additional missing fees at the meeting; staff will return with those items for future consideration.
