County to Condon - You get more than you pay for

SWAN VALLEY - Officials from Missoula County presented information on property taxes, how taxes fund road maintenance and answered questions about the quality of maintenance in the area at the Swan Valley Community Council meeting Aug. 16.

The Council also discussed the open Council seat and how it will be filled. New Council member Grace Siloti questioned some of the Council’s recent activity and transparency.

Missoula County Treasure Tyler Gernant explained that property taxes are the primary source of funding for local governments in Montana.

Properties are reappraised every two years to get a market value. The market value is then used to calculate a taxable value based on the classification of the property. For residential property, the taxable value is 1.35% of the market value.

If a landowner disagrees with the market value placed on their property when it is reappraised they have 30 days to request the Montana Department of Revenue to reassess the appraisal. The next cycle is in 2023.

Local government, such as the county and schools, then set the number of mills they are collecting. A mill is 1/1000 of the taxable value.

Other taxes that are collected on property include special districts such as fire and medical, or special improvement districts and bonds.

The County presented that, in the Swan Valley, approximately $2 million is collected from 1,175 taxpayers. Of that $800,000 is for the county, $655,000 for local schools, $340,000 for state schools and $100,000 for special districts.

Of the $800,000 the county collects, Missoula County Public Works gets $80,000 to perform roadwork in the area.

Countywide, $2.7 million is collected to maintain approximately 450 miles of roads or $6,000 per mile of road. However, in the Swan Valley only about $3,500 per mile of road is collected.

Public Works Director Shane Stack said that snow removal alone eats up the taxes collected from the Swan Valley.

Bridges are another issue. County-wide the county collects only about $2,000 per bridge per year while Swan Valley residents only contribute $670 per bridge in the area per year. That doesn’t go far when you look at the replacement cost of the Cold Creek Road bridge over the Swan River is $9.5 million. The county applies for grants to fund bridge replacements but sometimes they require matching funds.

Residents in attendance complained about the county not fixing roads correctly and washboards and potholes reappear after just a few weeks of being graded.

Joe Miller from Missoula County Public Works explained that there are some challenges to maintaining roads in the Swan Valley.

One of those challenges is that the county’s nearest gravel source is the pit on Fawn Creek Road a couple miles north of Seeley Lake. The cost of hauling gravel makes it cost prohibitive to lay down a proper amount of gravel so most roads don’t have a thick enough layer. When potholes and washboard is graded out, the grader can only cut into the thin layer of gravel on top of the road or it starts digging up bigger rocks and makes the potholes worst.

To overcome the gravel shortage issue, the County has been working on getting a pit located in the Swan Valley. The County owns its own crusher to save cost as well.

Council member Dan Saari resigned his position on the Council. While council seats are elected positions, vacancies are filled by appointment of the Missoula County Commissioners to fulfill the original term of the seat. In this case the term is through May 31, 2025.

The County is currently accepting applicants for the seat through Aug. 29 at 3 p.m. If interested in applying visit https://boards.missoulacounty.us/apply/

The Commissioners will then interview applicants and allow for public comment ahead of making the appointment.

Siloti questioned how and why the Council decided who would be Chair, Vice Chair and Treasure when there were two Council members, herself and Jesse Arno, not present.

Council Chair Kathy Koors explained that the Council had a quorum of three council members and that was all that was needed to elect officers. She said they needed officers to conduct meetings.

Siloti felt that decisions like that should be made when everyone was present. She had a prior commitment that was made before she signed up for the Council and was appointed just five day ahead of the meeting.

Siloti also questioned the legality of Council members meeting with Stack regarding the transfer site prior to last month’s Council meeting. According to Siloti, only two members of the public were invited. A quorum of the council was present.

Council member Marsh Tapp also questioned if the meeting was legal.

Koors didn’t think there was anything wrong with the meeting.

“So if we did something wrong, it was unintentional,” said Koors. “I didn’t think [the county] would call an illegal meeting.”

One item that has been brought to the Council’s attention is the poor condition of the Holland Lake boat launch. There is a concern that emergency services have no way to launch a boat and have to beg landowners for the use of a boat in the event of an emergency on the lake or on the trail on the opposite end of the lake. Council members agreed to invite the Forest Service to next month’s meeting to see what can be done.

The next Council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. at the Swan Valley Community Hall.