09/23/2024“Great Falls This Week” is reported and written by Matt Hudson. Send your news and tips to [email protected] included property tax, zoning, local businessCandidates for the Cascade County Board of Commissioners participated in a public forum on Sept. 16, hosted by Great Falls Neighborhood Council 5.Republican candidate Eric Hinebauch, Democrat candidate Don Ryan and incumbent write-in Republican candidate Rae Grulkowski answered questions from former Great Falls Tribune editor Tom Kotynski. The forum was not a debate. Rather, the candidates to represent District 3 on the commission answered questions one by one in the cafeteria of Mountain View Elementary School.The candidates were asked about the county’s role in property tax reform, and each supported changes that would need to take place at the Montana Legislature. For example, Ryan suggested a system that gives some tax breaks to older property owners.“We are an aging community,” Ryan said. “And we have to protect those people who have worked their whole lives for what they have.”Hinebaugh said he supports homestead exemptions, which would also require legislative action. The homestead provision is a tax break on primary homes and was part of Gov. Greg Gianforte’s housing task force suggestions.Grulkowski said that the county commissioners are more likely to impact residents’ annual payments in other areas like solid waste assessments.“What we can control with your taxes in general, your tax bills, isn’t as large as you might believe,” she said.One question focused on how the county should treat zoning for county land within Great Falls’ boundaries. Those lots can have businesses, like fireworks stands or storage units, that are allowed by county rules but not by city zoning. The question was whether those parcels should align with city rules.“I think if it’s county-zoned, we should leave it county-zoned,” Hinebauch said.Grulkowski suggested that those parcels should be sold to the city if there’s a dispute over land use rather than create different zoning regulations.Ryan encouraged the creation of a joint city-county planning board to tackle this issue and others, such as the impending Air Force Sentinel missile conversion.“We do need to get city-county planning working together because this Sentinel project, the influx, is going to be big and it’s coming,” he said.None of the candidates supported the requirement of professional qualifications for elected officials. The question suggested that qualified elected officials could reduce the expense of professional staff.Ryan said that qualification requirements would exclude some people from running for office. Grulkowski said that it’s important for citizens to serve in elected positions rather than the government relying on “career politicians.”Hinebauch said that he would rely on voters to initiate a local government review to examine changes, which could include creating combined city-county government bodies. The state Constitution requires this vote every 10 years.All of the candidates aligned in opposition to additional permit extensions for the Madison Food Park proposal. The business park has been in development for years but has defaulted on start-up loans from the Great Falls Development Authority.5 Things to Know in Great FallsThe Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians posted to social media its support of the Fort Belknap Indian Community following the repatriation of the remains of three children who were sent to a boarding school more than a century ago. The three children came from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, part of a network of facilities that sought to assimilate Indigenous children into mainstream white society in the 19th century. The partially restored Rocky Mountain Building in downtown Great Falls is for sale. First reported by The Electric, the asking price is $3.2 million for the building that Alluvion Health attempted to restore. The project was abandoned last year as the clinic system faced financial troubles. Online utility payments are finally available for the city of Great Falls. After a long software transition, residents can now log in, view bills and pay online once or on a recurring basis. View the website and register here. You’ll need your name as it appears on your billing statement and your account number to register. The Cascade County Board of Commissioners approved increases to solid waste assessments during a special meeting on Sept. 19. These assessments will be automatically applied to property owners outside of Great Falls, Black Eagle, Belt and Cascade. Assessments on a typical single home will go up from $120 to about $174. The solid waste division has operated at a deficit in recent years, and the increase will help plan for future capital projects, according to commissioners.  The city of Great Falls has finished an initial inventory of water lines as part of a mandate by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to identify and replace lead pipes. The initial inventory revealed 157 lead pipes and 5,378 pipes of unknown material, which are considered non-conforming until they can be verified. Mark Juras with the city’s public works department told city commissioners that the department plans to work with residents to identify as many more pipe materials as possible in the coming months. A replacement schedule is not yet certain, as the EPA could approve a more aggressive timeline later this year.Verbatim“To have a positive attitude. To love each other. To love your fellow individual. There’s so much hate and vindictiveness and animosity, and I think love is the answer.”— Arlyne Reichert, speaking to daughter Cheryl in 2020 as part of the StoryCorps Archive project. Reichert died in May at 98 years old and at the time was the oldest living delegate to the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention. During that interview, conducted during the first big wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Reichert reflected on being a child of the Great Depression, watching World War II unfold as a Jewish woman and the cultural and political upheaval that took place in 2020. She concluded that hope springs eternal with love as the solution.Read more: From the state Constitution to the Missouri River shoreline, Arlyne Reichert helped shape MontanaPublic NoticeThe Great Falls Public Schools Board of Trustees is expected to confirm community members of a baseball committee tonight at its board meeting. Staff committee members include a school executive director, the athletic director and a school board trustee.The committee also calls for the appointment of three community members, which is on the board agenda. Out of 16 applicants, the board will consider approving three finalists: Kali Tuckerman, Zachary Griffin and Jon Boutilier.The committee will explore fundraising options and logistics to start a boys baseball program that’s planned for spring 2026.The post County Commissioner candidates speak at forum appeared first on Montana Free Press.