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Commission seeks neutral voter materials, requests factual fiscal impacts for charter options
Summary
Commissioners asked staff to prepare neutral voter-education materials describing charter options and requested factual fiscal-impact information—specifically transition costs to a city manager and savings/costs from reducing commissioners—while noting the record does not claim tax increases.
On June 8 the Butte–Silver Bow Government Study Commission discussed formats and content for voter education ahead of the November ballot, emphasizing neutral, factual materials rather than advocacy.
Ms. Adams asked commissioners to consider the format for educational materials—booklet, flyer, website content or a combination—and commissioners agreed funding availability will influence the distribution method. Commissioners discussed printed guides, website/QR resources, public presentations, media appearances and a livestream through the Emergency Operations Center and YouTube channel.
Commissioner Dennehy recommended voter materials include fiscal-impact information covering three items: the transition from a Chief Executive/Chief of Staff to a city manager structure; costs associated with reducing the Commission from 12 part-time commissioners to five full-time commissioners; and estimated budget impacts with explanations of how changes compare to the overall City-County budget. Commissioner Casey said, “None of the recommendations are requesting additional mills. Therefore, we may not be able to say that taxes will go up or down.” Commissioners agreed fiscal information should be factual and presented in context without implying tax changes not proposed.
The Commission asked staff to obtain clarifications about fire district boundaries and legal interpretations of taxing authority and to seek input from both paid and volunteer fire department representatives when developing explanatory language. The Commission set a target to complete the final report before July 7 so voter materials can be prepared in time for the November election.
Next procedural steps: forward Chief Osborne’s correspondence to Ms. Adams for inclusion in minutes and materials, collect commissioner comments for County Attorney Enrooth’s review, and return revised charter language to the Commission for further consideration.
