Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Gallatin County holds final preliminary FY2026 budget hearing; departments request additional funding
Summary
At the county’s third preliminary FY2026 budget hearing, CFO Justine Swanson outlined schedule and timing after certified taxable evaluations arrived; departments requested additional funds, including $15,000 for fairgrounds chip sealing, $55,126 for laptop replacements, and personnel and software funding.
The Gallatin County Commission held its third and final public hearing on the FY2026 preliminary budget on Aug. 5, 2025. Justine Swanson, the county’s chief financial officer, told the commission certified taxable evaluations arrived yesterday, triggering work to compute maximum mill levies and finalize revenue estimates; she said the commission will consider requests at a final budget work session and expects to adopt final budgets on Aug. 26, 2025.
Multiple departments placed additional requests on the record for consideration at the final work session. Caller Lee, deputy administrator, requested an additional $14,830 for the Gunther tenant-improvement project. Kate Quisenberry, fairgrounds director, asked for $15,000 to perform a chip-seal treatment for the fairgrounds parking area, citing leftover savings from prior millings but depleted reserves. Matt Blanco, chief information officer, requested $55,126 for countywide laptop replacement for the upcoming year. Michelle McLennan for the county attorney’s office requested $33,950 to fund PBK discovery and case-management software. Jill Therian, county auditor, requested funding for a full-time internal auditor position conversion to part-time at a cost of $38,803, or alternatively $5,000 for overlap training if the position is not funded.
Maureen Horton, Gallatin County treasurer, provided a revenue estimate related to a 10¢ per-transaction program for motor-vehicle transactions, reporting 177,914 transactions in 2024 and stating a working estimate of approximately $2,497 for the quarter, while she seeks state clarification on which interactions qualify as transactions.
Cameron Enright of the Gallatin Local Water Quality District presented three budgetary items: a requested revenue increase of $31,641.10 following a resolution to raise LWQD fees; a requested increase in expenditures of $104,501 to support district activities and notice mailing fees; and removal or transfer of $43,456.50 in expenditures for phase 2 of MS4, with alternatives proposed for how to accommodate the sum.
The chair opened the floor to public comment on the additions; none were offered in person or online. The commission indicated the listed requests will be integrated into the final budget work session on Thursday and subsequent adoption proceedings.
