How budgets work
How public budgets work in Montana
A budget decides what a government actually does with its money. Each level of government has its own calendar and rules, and each has a point where the public can weigh in.
The basics
- A budget is a plan. It lists what a government expects to take in and what it's allowed to spend, usually for one year.
- An appropriation is legal permission to spend money on something. Without one, the money can't be spent.
- Funds are separate accounts. A county's road fund can't quietly pay for the jail, which is why budgets come in many pieces.
- A mill is the unit of property tax: one mill raises $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value. When you hear a levy is "20 mills," that's the rate.
- A fiscal year is the budget year. In Montana, state and local governments and school districts all run July 1 to June 30. The federal government runs October 1 to September 30.
The best time to change a budget is before it's adopted. Once the vote happens, most of the money is spoken for until next year.
The federal budget
The President proposes
The President's budget request is due the first Monday in February. It's only a proposal.
Congress sets a framework
Congress is supposed to pass a budget resolution by April 15 that sets overall totals. It isn't signed by the President, and the deadline is often missed.
Twelve spending bills
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees each have 12 subcommittees, and each writes one bill, from Agriculture to Defense to Transportation and Housing. All 12 are supposed to pass before the fiscal year starts October 1.
Or a stopgap
When the bills aren't done, Congress passes a continuing resolution that keeps agencies running, usually at last year's level. If neither passes, funding lapses and the government shuts down. Congress has finished every regular bill on time only three times in the last 47 years. The 2026 fiscal year began with a 42-day shutdown.
Most federal spending never goes through those 12 bills. Social Security, Medicare and other "mandatory" programs are paid under standing law. In fiscal 2025 that was about $4.2 trillion, compared with about $1.9 trillion in the yearly "discretionary" bills and about $970 billion in interest on the debt.
The debt limit is a cap on how much the Treasury can borrow to pay for spending and tax decisions Congress already made. Raising it doesn't approve any new spending.
Where you come in: contact your U.S. Representative and Montana's two Senators about funding priorities. A city, county, tribe or nonprofit can also ask a member of Congress to request Community Project Funding for a local project. House members can submit up to 20 a year and must post their requests publicly. Check each Senator's website for how they take requests.
Sources: Congressional Research Service, The Congressional Appropriations Process and R42388; House Appropriations subcommittees; CBO, mandatory and discretionary spending, FY2025, and the debt limit; GAO, continuing resolutions; House Community Project Funding guidance.
The state budget
Montana's Legislature meets in odd-numbered years and writes a budget for the next two fiscal years, called a biennium. The Constitution requires it to balance: appropriations can't exceed expected revenue.
The Governor's budget (fall of even years)
The Governor's budget office sends a preliminary budget to the Legislature's fiscal staff by Nov. 15. A newly elected governor can submit changes by Jan. 7.
Nonpartisan analysis
The Legislative Fiscal Division, the Legislature's own budget staff, analyzes every agency request and publishes revenue estimates.
Subcommittees go line by line
House Bill 2, the main spending bill, is split into sections by agency. Each section goes to a joint subcommittee of House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Claims, which approves, cuts or changes the Governor's requests. Those hearings are where the details get decided, and anyone can testify.
One bill, both chambers, the Governor
House Appropriations merges the sections into one bill, then HB 2 moves through both chambers and to the Governor like any other bill, with line-item veto power on appropriations.
Between sessions
Six interim budget committees watch agency spending, and the Legislative Finance Committee gets quarterly reports. Their meetings are public too.
Where the money comes from: the individual income tax is the biggest source, about 57% of projected general fund revenue for the current two-year budget. Statewide property tax mills for schools, corporate taxes and natural resource taxes make up much of the rest.
What changed in 2025: lawmakers rewrote residential property taxes (SB 542 and HB 231), creating a lower "homestead" rate for primary homes and long-term rentals starting in 2026, and raised school funding for inflation (HB 15).
Where you come in: testify at an HB 2 subcommittee in person, remotely or in writing through the Legislature's participation page. Read the Fiscal Division's budget analysis and fiscal report, and look up state spending at transparency.mt.gov.
Sources: Mont. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 9; MCA 17-7-112, 17-2-110, 5-12-501; Legislative Fiscal Division, HB 2 Quick Guide and 2027 Biennium Revenue Estimates; Dept. of Revenue on SB 542 and HB 231.
Counties, cities and towns
Counties and cities follow the same state law, the Local Government Budget Act. The calendar is set by statute, so it's the same in Garfield County as in Missoula.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| By early June | Departments and elected offices turn in their budget requests (in counties, the clerk and recorder collects them). |
| Summer | The commission or council builds a preliminary budget. For every fund it must show three years of numbers and what the property tax will cost on a $100,000 home. |
| Early August | The Department of Revenue certifies taxable values, which tells the county or city what each mill will raise. |
| Budget hearing | Public notice must say the budget is on file to read and invite anyone to speak for or against any part of it. Officials have to attend and answer questions. |
| By early September | Final budget adopted by resolution, by the later of the first Thursday after the first Tuesday in September or 30 days after taxable values arrive. |
| Right after | Mill levies set for each fund. |
The property tax limit
A county or city can generally raise only as much property tax as last year plus the average inflation rate of the past three years, capped at 4%. Some things fall outside that limit, including levies voters approve, court judgments and emergencies. The 2025 property tax changes made local governments recalculate their mills, so expect some confusing numbers this year. MACo's property tax page explains the reset.
When voters decide
To go above the limit, a commission or council can put a levy on the ballot, or citizens can petition for one. The ballot has to state the purpose, the dollar amount, the approximate mills, whether it's permanent, and what it costs on $100,000, $300,000 and $600,000 homes. It passes by simple majority.
Changing the budget later: moving money within a fund is allowed if the budget resolution permits it, but raising total spending authority generally takes another public hearing.
Where you come in: ask your county clerk or city clerk for the budget calendar in the spring, read the preliminary budget when it's filed, and speak at the hearing. Cities and towns must publish notice too, and your clerk can tell you where.
Sources: MCA 7-6-4020, 7-6-4021, 7-6-4024, 7-6-4031, 7-6-4034, 15-10-420, 15-10-425; Montana Association of Counties.
How to look it up for your own town
Search for: swap in your own county, city or district name.
Where it usually lives:
- County: the clerk and recorder collects budget requests, and the budget or finance page on the county website usually posts the preliminary and final budgets. MACo's list links every county site.
- City or town: the city clerk or finance office. The League of Cities and Towns directory lists every city and town, and its budget and finance page explains the process.
- Statewide comparisons: transparency.mt.gov.
What to ask for: the budget calendar, the preliminary budget, the notice of the budget hearing, the final budget resolution, and the mill levy for each fund.
School districts
Notice (July 1 to Aug. 10)
The district clerk publishes a notice of the budget meeting saying any taxpayer may speak for or against any part of the budget.
Trustees adopt the budget (by Aug. 20 to 25)
The board holds its final budget meeting by Aug. 20 and adopts the budget and levies by Aug. 25.
BASE and maximum budgets: state law sets a floor and a ceiling for each district's general fund, based mostly on enrollment. The floor, called BASE, is funded by state aid and property taxes. Going above BASE takes local levies.
When voters decide: if a district wants an over-BASE levy higher than anything it has levied in the past five years, voters have to approve it. Those levies usually appear on the regular school election ballot, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May.
What changed in 2025: HB 156 created countywide BASE levies, one for elementary and one for high school districts in each county, set by the county commission.
Where you come in: school budgets get far less attention than they deserve. Go to the August budget meeting, read the levy language before the May election, and ask your trustees how the budget lines up with what students need.
Sources: MCA 20-9-115, 20-9-131, 20-9-306, 20-9-308, 20-9-353, 20-9-362, 20-20-105; Office of Public Instruction.
How to look it up for your own district
Search for: swap in your own county, city or district name.
Where it usually lives:
- District website: the "Board" tab for meeting agendas and packets, and a "Business Office" or "Budget" page if the district has one. The OPI school directory has each district's clerk or business manager.
- The district clerk: publishes the budget meeting notice each summer and can send you the budget.
- Before a levy vote: the ballot language and the district's explanation of what the levy pays for.
What to ask for: the preliminary budget, the notice of the August budget meeting, the adopted budget, and the exact language of any levy on the May ballot.
Special districts
- Rural fire districts: trustees plan the budget and the county commission levies the tax, under the same property tax limit.
- Conservation districts: supervisors estimate what they need and the county commission levies it.
- Water and sewer districts: the board sets rates and must review them every year. Property taxes are limited to paying off voter-approved bonds.
- Newer special districts (created since 2009): the board adopts an assessment each year after a public notice and a hearing where property owners can object.
Sources: MCA 7-33-2109, 76-15-516, 7-13-2301, 7-11-1025; MSU Local Government Center.
How to read a budget without a finance degree
Start with the $100,000 home line
Montana requires local budgets to show what the tax costs on a $100,000 home, this year and last. It's the fastest way to see what a change means for you.
Compare three years
Every fund shows past, current and proposed years. Trends tell you more than totals: what's growing, what's shrinking, and whether reserves are being drained.
Check the fund balances
A fund that spends more than it takes in for years in a row will eventually need a levy or a cut. Spotting that early is half the job.
Ask what isn't there
A budget shows what was funded. The requests that got cut are often the more interesting story, so ask for them.
Learn from the people who teach officials
The MSU Local Government Center's Municipal Budgeting Guide and Municipal Officials Handbook are free, and its newly elected officials training covers budgets in depth. You can compare local governments at transparency.mt.gov.