The results from Tuesday’s school board and levy votes are in: Missoula voters approved two of three public school levies and retained the incumbent slate of school board members.

The levies help fund general operations as well as potentially qualify Missoula schools for additional state funds, important at a time when school districts across the state are facing budget deficits and making cuts accordingly.

Voters approved high school and elementary school general fund levies by about 1,000 and 3,000 votes, respectively, but, for the second consecutive year, rejected a high school safety levy. The approved levies will bolster budgets by $164,315 for high schools and $384,947 for elementary schools. The safety levy would have generated about $1 million to help offset costs related to school resource officers, security, mental health counselors and related services.

“On behalf of the Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees, students, staff and administration, we are humbled and grateful for the support the community has shown our schools through the passage of these levy requests,” Micah Hill, the superintendent of Missoula County Public Schools, said in a press release. “We are naturally disappointed that the high school safety levy fell short, as it would have been significant in providing very needed resources for our students and staff.”

“We are naturally disappointed that the high school safety levy fell short, as it would have been significant in providing very needed resources for our students and staff.”

School funding in Montana — really, municipal budgeting writ large — has become wrapped up in broader anxieties about rising property taxes and cost of living in the state. Some legislators in Helena are quick to point the finger at local taxing jurisdictions for ballooning bills. On the other side of the coin, some policymakers and advocates say the Legislature should reform the tax code to ease the burden on homeowners while not holding school districts hostage.

Indeed, one of the Legislature’s final acts last month was to pass a pair of bills developed by Gov. Greg Gianforte’s property tax task force designed to reduce property taxes on homeowners and landlords by increasing taxes on second homes and short-term rentals.

The levies that Missoula voters approved will increase annual property taxes on a home worth $100,000 by about $2.89; a home worth $300,000, about $8.67; and a home worth $600,000, about $17.34. For comparison, State Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, a longtime legislative bigwig and budget whiz, has said the property tax relief legislation could result in annual reductions of as much as $719 for a house worth $360,000.

In addition to approving two of three levies, Missoula voters also retained three incumbent school board trustees: Wilena Old Person, Meg Whicher and Keegan Witt.

Elsewhere in the Missoula area, smaller school districts saw mixed results in their bids to increase funding. For the first time in years, voters in the Alberton School District, which recently cut music and STEM programs, approved a $48,000 operational levy. Voters in the DeSmet school district narrowly passed a general fund levy, while general fund and safety levies in the Hellgate, Bonner, Frenchtown and Lolo school districts all failed.

“Strong schools are a byproduct of a strong community. Everyone benefits when our schools are able to provide our students with the best possible educational experience,” Hill, the MCPS superintendent, said in his statement.

The Missoula County Elections Office reported a turnout of 34 percent, less than half the rate in last November’s general election.

Activists launch ‘whole-person’ organizing effort

A group of local activists is launching a new non-profit designed not only to organize tenants and workers in Missoula but also to educate Missoulians about the systemic forces that shape their lives.

“We do whole-person organizing,” Alessandro Mitchell, one of the founders of the group, Missoula Neighbors United, told The Pulp. “We try to, when we deal with people, not just isolate them as tenants or workers but to get them to understand the whole ecosystem of the economy and political system that they’re embedded in.”

Mitchell was formerly involved with the Missoula Tenants Union, and said he’ll do some similar work with the new organization, namely organizing tenants at Eagle Watch Estates, an affordable housing complex off West Broadway Street.

But Missoula Neighbors United has a broader focus than just tenant organizing, said Mitchell, who moved to Missoula in 2022. The group has three planks: direct organizing, mass education, and recruiting political leadership. That means, he said, “getting people to collectivize, understand their strength together, build collective consciousness, getting people to understand the root causes of our social problems and understand what the solutions are.”

At this stage, though, Mitchell said the group is small, with only three core members, and mostly focused on building relationships with other organizations in the city. And while the group has a clear anti-capitalist framework — anyone familiar with Marx will hear some resonance in the three planks — Mitchell said anyone is welcome to join.

“I think that people learn through practice best, and that’s what I kind of want to emphasize. We believe that in order to make social change, we have to go at it in a certain way. But everyone’s welcome.”

On May 14 at 6:30 p.m., the organization is holding its first public general meeting at Westside Lanes.

Johnson Street funding measure fails (again)

A proposal from two members of the Missoula City Council to keep the Johnson Street shelter open failed this week.

Council members Daniel Carlino and Kristen Jordan brought forth a resolution on Monday to fund the shelter, which is otherwise set to close in August following a decision by Mayor Andrea Davis. The shelter costs about $1.8 million a year to operate.

While Davis and other members of the council have said the city does not have the money to operate the shelter, and that the city’s focus should be finding permanent housing for people who need it, Carlino and Jordan have consistently advocated for maintaining shelter services.

“The people in our community who are using the Johnson Street shelter are some of the most vulnerable residents,” Carlino said. “The mayor and city council’s decision to close it without alternatives is failing those most vulnerable residents in our community.”

Carlino and Jordan said the money the city is spending to enforce its urban camping policy and provide other services could instead be used to fund the shelter. But Davis said doing so would be impossible, especially when the city is facing a potential $4 million deficit next year.

“This is something we have examined whether we have the resources for, and we believe firmly that we do not, unless we are going to cut core services at the City of Missoula,” Davis said during the council meeting Monday.

The city is instead prioritizing a so-called housing sprint that will use public and private dollars to help connect Johnson Street residents with shelter and other resources. The fund sits at about half of its $400,000 goal — a sum that, if reached, will likely not be enough to house everyone currently staying at the shelter, the city has conceded.

The measure failed 9-2. It faced the same fate last month, when Carlino and Jordan brought the matter forth for preliminary consideration. The Pulp reported on that vote here.

The ledger #️⃣

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The acreage of a property between the Clark Fork River and Kim Williams Trail east of town that the city council approved purchasing this week using $112,700 in open space bond funds. The transfer of the property to public ownership will help preserve access and a riparian corridor.

The week ahead 🗓️

On May 13 at 4:30 p.m. at Westside Park, the city is hosting the first of this year’s City Chats in the Park, which allow Missoulians to interact with and ask questions of city staff and officials in a “relaxed, informal setting,” according to a press release. This is the third year of the event series. Future meetings will take place at other city parks throughout the summer.

Find a list of all upcoming city meetings here and county meetings here.