MISSOULA — On Monday night, the Missoula City Council voted to approve the City of Missoula's 2026 budget, where property owners within city limits can expect to see a 3.39% increase in their city property taxes.
At large, council members were in broad support of the budget.
The revenue taken in from the increase in property taxes, roughly $2.4 million, will largely go towards city staff wages — including police, fire and the road district.
More importantly, property owners may see a decrease in their 2026 property taxes after the state legislature passed property tax legislation. According to the city, for 2026, the median home should see a roughly $250 decrease in its property taxes compared to 2025.
City council members in attendance spoke in support of the mayor’s budget, saying that it was lean and focused.
“It is a very cumbersome process," Missoula City Council Member Amber Sherrill said. "But it's one of the more important things that we do here on council because as maybe you have said, but I know that our past mayor said as well is that it really does show what our values are as a community."
“I think staff and the mayor have worked really hard to point this in the right direction. And I know how much work goes into this, but to get our reserve fund from two million up to three million is really, really significant," Missoula City Council Member Gwen Jones said. "We still need another couple million to really get our target. But that movement is so hard to make with our tight budget, and I appreciate that we are going in that direction and getting the structural deficit down."
“You've really dug deep to try to come up with an answer here that that fits with the economic situation that we're in here in Missoula, and inflation and trying to be mindful of impacts on taxpayers and that balance between where it is at," Jones said. "We're going to take a vote here in a little bit to demand from taxpayers versus the services and the personnel and infrastructure that's provided to them.
“I think this is a budget that continues to reflect the needs of our community and the commitment of the city to provide services to our community. And that is not an easy thing to do," Missoula City Council Member Mirtha Becerra said.
The Department of Revenue is finalizing its assessments currently, with the city still getting numbers in. There will be one final resolution on the budget regarding the Downtown Tourism District next Monday.
