// 2026 BUDGET: TAXES DECREASING DESPITE MORE MILLS LEVIED

City Council will vote on a preliminary $417.8 million budget for fiscal year 2026, a $20 million reduction from the original proposal. Despite increasing the number of mills levied by 39.86 mills, most homeowners will see property tax decreases due to recent state legislative changes. Additionally, Council will discuss amendments focused on police staffing and a new housing initiative.

Why it matters: The budget establishes spending priorities for Montana's City during a period of population growth and revenue challenges. Government budgets reveal what is important to elected bodies, whether that's infrastructure, public safety, parks, economic development, or other investments and services citizens expect.

The big picture: Much of the budget is comprised of charges for service, which generate about $174 million in revenue. These are fees and charges like your water or garbage bills—not a tax, but an appropriate payment for services. Your property taxes largely fund public safety services and go to the General Fund and Public Safety Fund. Together police ($33 million) and fire ($29 million) budgets make up 73% of the General Fund and Public Safety budget.

(pg. 10 of draft budget)

What's changed: The 2025 Legislature passed property tax shift bills (increasing taxes on businesses) which reduced the value of a mill, requiring the City to levy mills beyond what the City Charter allows. Despite legislators claiming they had provided a "Billings fix" to our charter mill levy cap, the City is limited to levy a number of mills commensurate with the FY25 budget. That means reducing the proposed FY26 budget.

• South TIF: Remove $20,000,000 - Moved to FY25 budget due to project starting sooner than anticipated
• Mayor & Council: Remove $1,500 - Car allowance removal requested by Mayor, consistent with Council direction to eliminate non-contracted car allowances
• Police Programs: Remove $170,000 - Duplicated DUI grant (revenue and expense) identified and removed from original budget
• Building Division: Add $101,800 - Additional FTE for Project Coordinator position as discussed during Building Division's Council presentation

Additional proposed changes include: Four amendments for consideration and Council vote. Two from Councilman Rupsis and two from Councilman Kennedy.

• Rupsis 1 - drop the city's membership with the National League of Cities and use the $10,000 to study housing program design.
• Rupsis 2 - take $5,000 from Council Contingency fund to support City Boards and Commissions with event booths, printed materials, or meeting attendance.
• Kennedy 1 - fully fund 177 FTE police officers by utilizing vacancy savings and reducing overtime budgets.
• Kennedy 2 - remove car allowances (except for City Administrator whose allowance is in his contract) and utilize IRS mileage reimbursement.

The bottom line: Despite the need for budget reductions, the proposed budget draft shows that police and fire staffing remains at previous levels, ensuring public safety services aren't significantly impacted because of the State Legislature's property tax shifting.

For a median home valued at $350,000 taxes are expected to be reduced by around $200. (See table below)

// NEW SECTION IN THE COUNCIL BULLETIN!

We frequently hear from readers how much they appreciate the content in the Billings City Council Bulletin, keeping them up-to-date on what's coming up at City Council. "BUT," readers ask, "what happened? How did things turn out? What did City Council actually do?"

Gone are the days of Mike Ferguson, ever-present in the front row at Council, unmistakable in his Hawaiian shirt as he jots notes and quotes for his Tuesday morning story in the Billings Gazette.

In the absence of full-time media coverage of City Council, we've decided to try something new—have AI summarize Council meetings. The final section of the Council Bulletin, "In Case You Missed It," will now feature an AI summary of the previous meeting, along with links to Community 7's YouTube video, and the draft minutes (if available). That way, you've got:

• an AI summary with interesting highlights
• a link to watch the video yourself
• draft minutes produced by city staff

Feel free to let us know what you think of this new section. If it's useful, we'll keep it and modify it as needed. If it's not useful we'll drop it...unless it's taken over our computers and won't let us...

// BUSINESS MEETING AGENDA - 5:30 p.m. - BILLINGS CITY HALL

In this section, we will include the meeting agenda for you to view. Clicking on the items will take you to more information. No need to read it all, but if something catches your eye, be sure to check it out.

COUNCIL REPORTS: 

ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS - CHRIS KUKULSKI 

PUBLIC COMMENT on “NON-PUBLIC HEARING” Agenda Items: 1 ONLY. Comments are limited to three (3) minutes or as set by the Mayor.

1. CONSENT AGENDA -- Separations: 

A. Bid Awards: 

1. W.O. 25-28: Safe Routes to School Projects. (Opened 6/3/25) Recommend Askin Construction. 

2. W.O. 25-99: City of Billings Signal Upgrade. (Opened 6/3/25) Recommend Montana Lines, Inc.  

B. Amendments to Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with Urban Renewal Districts extending termination dates to October 1, 2025. 

C. *Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) Amendment No. 2 for Amend Park Recreation Campus General Contractor / Construction Manager (GC/CM); Langlas & Associates. 

D. Contract with Pine Cove Consulting, LLC, at the Billings Public Library for Access Control and Camera Upgrade.  

E. Professional Engineering Services Contract for W.O. 25-36: Rimrock Road - 54th Street West to 62nd Street West with Sanbell.  

F. Landfill Use Agreement for FY26 with Yellowstone County. 

G. Commercial Non-Aviation Ground Lease for use as a communications equipment site with Network Information Systems. 

H. Donations to the Billings Public Library from the Town Pump Charitable Foundation for the 2025 Teen Summer Reading Program. 

I. Grant funds from anonymous donor for Fire Station 5 Interior Remodel. 

J. 2025 High Intensity Drug Traffic Area (HIDTA) Award to the Police Department. 

K. Preliminary Major Plat of Clearwater Estates Subdivision, 2nd Filing.  *Quasi-Judicial 

L. Preliminary Major Plat of 44 West Subdivision.  *Quasi-Judicial 

M. Resolution ordering improvements identified in W.O. 25-02: 2025 Missing Sidewalk Program. 

1. BID AWARD: W.O. 25-02: Missing Sidewalk Project. (Opened 5/20/25) Recommend Knife River-Billings.  

N. Bills for the Weeks of: 

1. May 19, 2025 

2. May 27, 2025 

3. June 2, 2025  

REGULAR AGENDA: 

2. PUBLIC HEARING AND SPECIAL REVIEW 1000: a special review to allow a new bar and casino in a 2,925 square foot addition to an existing 5,730 square foot building, generally located at 840 Shiloh Crossing Blvd. Zoning Commission recommends conditional approval and adoption of the findings of the 9 criteria. *Quasi-Judicial

3. PUBLIC HEARING AND FIRST READING ORDINANCE FOR ZONE CHANGE 1066: generally located at 844 Grand Ave. Zoning Commission recommends approval and adoption of the 10 review criteria. *Quasi-Judicial

4. PUBLIC HEARING AND RESOLUTION adopting FY26 and FY27 wastewater retail rates and fees. Staff recommends approval. 

5. JOINT PUBLIC HEARING AND RESOLUTIONS allocating FY26 assessments for the following: 

a. Tourism Business Improvement District.

b. Business Improvement District 1.

6. PUBLIC HEARING AND RESOLUTION approving and adopting FY25 Budget Amendments. Staff recommends approval. 

7. PUBLIC HEARING AND RESOLUTION approving and adopting the FY26 preliminary budget. Staff recommends approval.

PUBLIC COMMENT on “NON-AGENDA ITEMS”. Comments are limited to 3 minutes or as set by the Mayor.

COUNCIL INITIATIVES: 

ADJOURN:

// WATCH THE MEETING ON COMMUNITY 7 TELEVISION

// CITY ADMINISTRATOR WEEKLY REPORT

City Administrator Chris Kukulski began the routine of sending a weekly report every Friday to City Council and department heads with the intent to, "communicate the highlights of the past week and any critical issues coming up." The most recent CA Report includes updates on:

• Update on Fire Chief interviews
• New driver's license scanning at Billings Landfill
• And much more...

// GET MORE INVOLVED IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Below are some additional public meetings being held this week, along with information about when and where to attend, and what's on the agenda (if one is available).

Tuesday, June 24th

Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee

12:00 - 1:30 pm, Beartooth Rm, 5th Floor, 316 N. 26th St. (New City Hall)

Yellowstone County Planning Board

6:00 - 7:30 pm, Council Chamber, 5th Floor, 316 N. 26th St. (New City Hall)

Heights Neighborhood Task Force

7:00 - 8:00 pm, Oasis, 543 Aronson Blvd.

Wednesday, June 25th

HomeFront Housing Authority Meeting

12:00 - 1:30 pm, HomeFront Offices, 2415 1st Ave N.

Thursday, June 26th

Board of Health Meeting

7:00 - 8:00 am, RiverStone Health, 3rd Flr Board Room, 2626 1st Ave S.

Citizen Police Advisory Board

9:00 - 10:00 am, Rimrock Rm, 5th Floor, 316 N. 26th St. (New City Hall)

// THE SQUEAKY WHEEL

// BOARD & COMMISSION OPENINGS

The Mayor's Office is accepting letters of interest to fill the vacancies listed on the city website. For more information on each specific board, visit the city website. City Boards and Commissions are appointed by the Mayor, confirmed by City Council, are advisory only, and members serve without compensation.

Submit applications to: Mayor's Office, PO Box 1178, Billings, MT 59103-1178.

The DEADLINE for applications is July 21, 2025.

BOARD OPENING (SEATS)

Billings Parking Board (1)

Housing Authority (1)

REQUIREMENTS

Must live in Billings

Live in 10 mi radius of Billings

// IN CASE YOU MISSED IT - AI SUMMARY AND SOURCE LINKS

In this section we re-visit last week's meeting, providing:

• an AI summary (YouTube transcript analyzed by Claude's Sonnet 4)
• links to the Community 7 video
• draft minutes produced by city staff (if available).

We'll revise and edit when necessary to avoid inaccuracies, which are sure to happen on occasion. And, considering the difficulty Council has had with audio feeds, it's likely that some comments or segments of the meeting will be missed in the video transcript.

June 16, 2025 - Work Session Meeting Overview

The City Council discussed three primary topics during their June 16th meeting in their new building: bicycle and pedestrian safety infrastructure, the Metropolitan Planning Organization's upcoming work program, and the significant financial impact of Northwestern Energy's proposed rate increase. The session focused heavily on transportation planning, with presentations from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee highlighting crash data and trail usage statistics, followed by extensive discussion of MPO funding priorities for the coming year. The meeting concluded with Council direction to formally oppose Northwestern Energy's rate hike due to its substantial impact on city operations and residents.

Actions Taken and Direction to Staff

• General agreement with staff direction on:
• MPO transportation planning projects including St. Francis Catholic School and Poly Drive safe routes to school study, and Medicine Crow Middle School safety improvements
• MPO's proposed trail feasibility studies for Alkali Creek Trail connection and downtown connector to Billings Heights
• household travel survey update using MPO funding to inform future transportation planning
• Postponed King Avenue East corridor study until after recreation center completion to assess combined traffic impacts
• Endorsed continued collaboration between city staff and MPO on transportation corridor analysis support
• Directed Councilman Aspenlieder to draft opposition letter to Public Service Commission regarding Northwestern Energy rate increase

Key Quotes from Councilmembers

Councilmember Gulick on Public Service Commission oversight: "Northwestern Energy is going to charge as high a rate as they possibly can... In the absence of hearing from the public, from entities like the City of Billings, I think you get what's called regulatory capture."

Councilmember Kennedy on rate increase opposition: "I really do feel we need to weigh in on it, too, for the people in our city... letting them know exactly why we object to the rates going up and how it will affect our ratepayers."

Councilmember Aspenlieder when volunteered to draft the opposition letter: "I'm pretty fluent in a-hole these days, so I might not be the right one. I'll take a stab at a draft and float it out to the budget and finance committee to start."

Meeting Statistics

Duration: Approximately 1 hour and 36 minutes (00:00 to 1:36:10)

Most Active Speakers:

• Staff presenters dominated speaking time, particularly Lora from MPO staff during the lengthy work program presentation, and Dave Coppock/Kristi Halderman from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
• Councilmember Aspenlieder spoke most among council members, especially during Northwestern Energy discussion
• Councilmember Gulick was also highly active across all three agenda items

Public Participation: Six different community members provided public comment, with Kris Glen speaking multiple times on both Northwestern Energy rates and bicycle infrastructure. Former Public Service Commissioner Tony O'Donnell provided extensive technical insight on utility regulation.

Financial Impact Discussed: The Northwestern Energy rate increase would cost the city approximately $1.5 million annually, affecting water/sewer operations ($850,000), street lighting ($300,000), and parks/operations ($125,000+).

// ADDITIONAL BILLINGS CHAMBER RESOURCES

// BUSINESS ADVOCACY SPONSORS