In the last year before a new state law reshapes municipal financing, Jefferson County’s latest budget looks a great deal like last year’s.
The County Commission on Sept. 2 approved a 2025-26 budget of $29.6 million, up 2.7% from last year and more than 15% from five years ago.
The county may end up spending considerably less than planned: in recent years, expenditures have been much lower than the budgeted totals. In 2024-25, for example, the city budgeted $28.8 million but spent $22.1 million, or 23% less than planned.
The budget often includes sizable grants that must be accounted for but, for various reasons, may not be received or spent in that fiscal year. The budget also includes accounts for rural improvement districts whose funds often build up over time until they’re spent on road maintenance or other projects.
When those accounting details are stripped away, the county’s core budget reveals few big changes. Among the larger functions, spending on public safety is set to increase by 3.8% from last year — a function, says Clerk & Recorder Ginger Kunz, who manages the budgeting process, of a 3% cost of living bump and raises based on longevity and collective bargaining stipulations. New legislation this year provided for increases for detention officers based on years of service.
The county’s roads budget is $2.2 million, about even with last year and 12% higher than expenditures. Hourly staff pay is set to increase 8% and the county has budgeted $145,000 for oil — driven in part by the need to resurface Corbin Road. The county experimented in 2024 with a new material, which turned out to be unsuitable for the Jefferson City road. It is now replacing that with traditional chip-seal.
Other county spending is determined by the availability of grant funding. This year’s public health budget includes $125,000 for a new program in behavioral health, including a half-time coordinator, made possible by a two-year state grant. Similarly, the county’s Elkhorn Search and Rescue received a grant last year to pay for a $61,000 vehicle; that was a one-time expense, and its budget this year is correspondingly lower.
This is the last year in which the County, like other municipal governments in Montana, will be barred from increasing core revenue by more than half the average rate of inflation over the previous three years. The County must adjust its tax rate, higher or lower, to accommodate the updated total taxable value of properties.
New legislation will allow governments next year to increase revenue derived from property taxes by the full rate of inflation, up to 4%.
The relaxation of the inflation cap, though, will be offset by a provision in the law limiting property taxes levied on new construction. Budgeting mathematics will likely become more complicated, but there may be little net effect on overall county revenues.
