CFO outlines FY24–25 budget with $23 million cash balance; commissioner urges fire-staffing fixes

Anaconda-Deer Lodge County CFO John Shirley presented highlights of the proposed fiscal year 2024–25 budget at the commission work session Aug. 27, saying the county enters the new year with roughly $23,000,000 in cash despite a $400,000 reduction in cash margin compared with the prior year.

Shirley listed major capital work completed in the prior year — a new splash park, library-step repairs, courthouse improvements and multiple street projects — and said the county plans to reduce debt, including retiring the last bond associated with a street-lighting district five years early to save about $130,000 in interest. He told commissioners a countywide valuation dip of about $140,000 was driven by centrally assessed assets and noted school mill levies increased significantly, which will raise property taxes for residents.

"We will be operating on less tax revenues this year than we did last year," Shirley said, and he described a conservative budgeting approach that excludes uncertain federal revenues and leans toward conservative revenue forecasting.

During discussion of resolution 24-18 (establishing a mill levy) and other budget items, Commissioner Gallagher pressed for action on fire-department staffing in addition to capital funding, saying prior fires exposed dangerous staffing shortfalls and arguing that capital fixes do not address the operations problem. "The outcomes of those garage fires that became house fires ... would have been different had we staffed to the minimum national standard," Gallagher said, urging that bond dollars and staffing be considered together.

The commission opened and closed the budget public hearing and proceeded to consider the mill-levy resolution; the transcript does not record a final commission vote on the budget during the portion of the meeting provided.