Columbia Falls adopts FY26 budget, approves mill levies and special assessments

The Columbia Falls City Council adopted the city's fiscal year 2026 budget and approved related tax levies and special assessments following a presentation from city staff.

City Manager presented the final budget and levy schedule, saying the city's total mill levy stands at 148.44 mills and highlighting a $435,428 increase in appropriations within the general fund. He told the council that the federal RAISE grant for the Gateway to Glacier project contributes just over $5 million to this year's revenue and that remaining grant funds will appear in the next fiscal year.

Why it matters: The budget directs spending across public safety, operations and capital projects. Manager said police, fire and emergency medical services account for about half of the general fund budget, and staff flagged two funds with pressing shortfalls: the street maintenance fund and the water/sewer enterprise funds.

Key details: Manager said the city maintains a 20% general fund reserve by policy and carries roughly 20% of total revenue as cash carryover. To preserve debt capacity for sewer operations he said staff removed about $70,000 of projected sewer expenditures this year and will return to the council with a rate study next spring. He also notified the council of a calculation error in the water operating fund and said staff will correct the summary table in the final signed resolution to reflect a roughly $99,387 adjustment.

Council action: The council approved three resolutions in roll-call votes. Resolution 1950 levying special assessments for a local improvement district (SID 26) passed; Resolution 1951 adopted the mill levies; and Resolution 1952 adopted the FY26 budget and appropriations. Each resolution passed on recorded roll calls in which members responded "Aye." The motions and roll-call tallies were recorded at the meeting; mover and second were not specified on the audio record.

Quotations: "We have $435,428 in increase appropriations within the general fund," the City Manager said during the presentation. On federal support for local work he said the RAISE grant "is over $5,000,000 added to our revenue."

Next steps: Staff will finalize the corrected water-fund numbers in the signed resolution and return in spring with a water and sewer rate study; the City Manager said he will present the final budget message at the council's next meeting.

Ending: With the votes recorded, the council closed the public hearing and moved on to routine reports and department updates.