Dear Editor,
The city has lost the trust of the voters. The city maintained the franchise fees which plaintiffs told the council were illegal sales within one week of the MT Supreme Court decision. After six years or more of litigation, the city lost; the ratepayers lost more.
The city used COVID money to pay for police and firefighters. The COVID money allowed the city to use millions of general fund dollars to purchase and expensively remodel the Stillwater Building.
The city put a $145 million dollar parks and trails levy before the voters. This ask failed by a 2:1 margin.
During the budget cycle, the council approved moving state funds from public works and the library to fund additional police officers. The council made Public Works “whole” by increasing fees. I was disappointed to hear the Public Works Director supported by the silence of the city manager and council deny having used Public Works dollars to fund police officers. Technically true but misleading.
Storm water fees were reconfigured and removed from the property tax levy to monthly bills. This transferred about $78 a year from property tax records to many living on moderate and fixed incomes without being able to seek property tax rebates. Some homeowners saw reduction in their storm water fees; many older homes saw an increased rate.
CM Aspenlieder noted that if the audit finds no errors in the billing, then the council needs to look at the decisions they made and the cumulative impact.
Pam Ellis
Billings, MT
