Article Summary –
The Great Falls Public Schools (GFPS) Board of Trustees has approved a $118 million budget for 2024-2025, which is $2.5 million more than the previous year, but taxpayers will see savings due to increased property valuations, although the district faces a $2.5 million shortfall in the general fund largely due to health insurance and payroll costs. Artist Angelina Villalobos, participating in the ArtsFest MT’s Great Walls Montana project, discussed her mural work in Great Falls, emphasizing her love for large, colorful animal and landscape paintings and sharing her inspirations and artistic process. The city of Great Falls has seen a $310,064 increase in newly taxable property values over prior projections, which will help offset tax appeals and contribute to unreserved funds, and there is an ongoing public comment period for the proposed Cascade County budget for the coming year.
Property valuations grew mill values
Taxpayers will get a break from the 2024-2025 Great Falls Public Schools budget, but the situation leaves the district with a funding gap.
The GFPS Board of Trustees passed its annual budget on Aug. 19, approving $118 million in spending, which is about $2.5 million more than the previous year.
The break for taxpayers comes from an increase in taxable valuations in the district, meaning the district will levy fewer mills. That amounts to $75 in savings on a $300,000 home, according to the budget summary.
However, the district still faces a shortfall in the general fund. The number of mills is largely determined by the state, and additional taxpayer funding must be passed by the school board, which declined to levy additional mills earlier this year.
“As a budget committee, we took seriously the impact that inflation has had on the community,” said Brian Patrick, the district’s director of business operations. “We saw what happened with the county safety levy and understood if we could make it work, we’d make it work for another year.”
The district will have to cover $2.5 million in the general fund to meet $83.5 million in general fund needs. Additional expenses come from rising health insurance costs and payroll, as about half of general fund expenses go towards teacher salaries and supplies.
An expected dip in enrollment was a major factor in the budget available to the district.
Patrick said the district plans to use money from an interlocal fund to cover the shortfall. The interlocal fund accrued savings through federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding that helped schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is still one wild card that could affect the amount taxpayers owe. The Calumet refinery’s tax protest is ongoing, and if the facility’s valuation is reduced, then the rest of the tax base would pay a bit more to cover the budget amount approved by the board of trustees. That tax protest remains unresolved.
3 Questions For
Angelina Villalobos is a Washington-based artist who was in Great Falls last week as part of ArtsFest MT’s Great Walls Montana project, which installed nine new murals on downtown buildings.
Montana Free Press caught up with Villalobos on her second day of work on the old Bert & Ernie’s building on Third Street South. As a fan of all things country-western, she said she loved working in the shadow of the Hoglund’s sign, and she came with a list of Great Falls attractions to visit.
Follow her work on Instagram.
This interview was edited for clarity.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your work?
My name is Angelina Villalobos. My artist name is onesevennine. I’m from Seattle, Wash. This is my first year here. I’m really excited. I like traveling to new places and to explore. I’ve already done a bunch of drives around.
I do really big colorful animals and landscapes. Directly before this, I finished up a mural in downtown Seattle. We painted a parking garage. We did the whole facade and then the inner wall. It took me a week. I had an assistant to help me.
What is your inspiration behind this piece?
It’s actually Hoglund’s. I am a really big country fan. I like classic country, and I’m a really big fan of western wear. I grew up kind of in the ‘90s era. That was the first place I went into.
I was thinking of something that would encompass a beautiful place. I always think of peacocks being really proud and colorful and kind of assholes as well. You have to have a little bit of spice to your life. So I was like, I think a peacock would do really well on this wall. Once I start doing a tail, it’s almost like a firebird as well. So it’s a cross between a phoenix, peacock-ish imagery. It’s a beautiful bird, but it’s also got that assertive aggressiveness that people sometimes shy away from. But if you’re an entrepreneur, a small business owner, if you’re really dedicated to the things that you’re doing, I feel like a peacock is a good animal to remind yourself that you’ve got to do it.
What I like to do is put down blocks of color, so I know where the movement is. And then I got back with more color and I start layering it. So what your eye does is starts in one area and flows and moves. It doesn’t have a hard stop or a hard beginning.
What does mural work mean to you?
I do a lot of murals. I started doing them because people liked my art, and they kept asking me to do bigger and bigger. Every experience is a chance to learn, and then you can see if you like it or if it’s successful or not successful. That’s where I ended up painting these large walls.
I’m short, I’m like 4’11”. When I work with kids, I’m like, “We’re small. As young people, as small people, our voices aren’t weighed as heavily because we don’t have the experience, but that doesn’t invalidate it.” I don’t have strong muscles. The only thing I have is my take on art and the world and filtering it through my artistic lens. So I like being able to sit in a space and absorb it and put it back out into the world how I see it. And I think it resonates with people. I think they find it very joyous.
By the Numbers
The increase of late and unpaid Great Falls utility bills over this time last year, according to the city finance office. Online utility payments are still unavailable during a software conversion, and residents need to pay at the finance office, located in the Civic Center, or in the drop box in the parking lot. There is a website to view your bill, but online payments aren’t yet ready.
Following Up
After receiving the official valuations from the Montana Department of Revenue earlier this month, the city of Great Falls saw a boost of $310,064 in newly taxable value over prior projections.
That didn’t change the mill levy for the coming year, which the Great Falls City Commission approved during its Aug. 20 meeting. As introduced in the draft budget in July, the 2024-2025 budget levies additional mills through an inflationary factor and permissive medical levy, the latter of which must be used toward health insurance premiums. Together, these levies will add $880,064 to the general fund.
Homeowners can expect their property taxes to increase by $26.97 for the year on a $300,000 home or $53.94 on a $600,000 home. The funds from newly taxable property will be used to offset tax appeals, uncollected taxes or contribute to unreserved funds.
Public Notice
A public viewing and comment period is open for the Cascade County budget for the coming year. A copy of the proposed budget is available for viewing at the courthouse annex building, and any taxpayer can “appear and be heard” regarding the budget through Sept. 5, according to a public notice.
A digital version of the proposed 2025 budget can be found here.
Correction
The August 19 edition of Great Falls This Week misstated Jake Clark’s name from the Great Falls Development Authority. The updated story in which that appears is here.
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