11/4/2024“Great Falls This Week” is reported and written by Matt Hudson. Send your news and tips to [email protected] Things to Know for Election DayMost voters in Great Falls will congregate at Exhibition Hall at the Montana ExpoPark ( 400 Third St. N.W.) as the main polling place. Rural polling places are also set up at the Vaughn Fire Station (14 Fourth St.), Wedsworth Hall in Cascade (13 Front St.), the Sun River Senior Center in Fort Shaw (13319 MT Hwy 200) and the Belt Senior Center (19 Castner St.). A list of polling places by precinct is here. The county also has precinct maps for Cascade County and the Great Falls area (best viewed on a computer).City of Great Falls offices will be closed on Election Day, including the Great Falls Public Library and the Great Falls Animal Shelter. The Scheels Aim High Big Sky Recreation and Aquatic Center will be open, and garbage pickup will continue as normal, according to the city.Late voter registration ends at noon today (Nov. 4). Montana does have same-day voter registration, which will be available at the Montana ExpoPark on Election Day. Rural polling places will be required to verify information with elections staff at the ExpoPark if working with a same-day registrant.Voters can bring their absentee ballots to polling places to drop off. A dropbox will be at the ExpoPark, and a dropbox will remain available at the county annex building in downtown Great Falls. Elections staff will not be at the normal office in the county annex building and will be relocated to the ExpoPark for Election Day. Voters who haven’t received their absentee ballots will need to request a new ballot.Take advantage of Montana Free Press’ Election Guide. You can search candidates based on your address, read related news coverage, get information on constitutional initiatives and get familiar with the people and issues that are on the ballot.’Following the MoneyIn the final days of a campaign, candidates and committees can sometimes spend big to get their intended names in front of voters.But in races around Cascade County, the top campaign spender in the most recent reporting period came from an unopposed candidate. Steve Fitzpatrick, a Republican leader poised to win House District 24, reported spending nearly $12,700 since mid-September. He has no opponent, but he told MTFP that this doesn’t mean he’s sitting this one out.“I may be unopposed, but because of redistricting, I have new territory that I haven’t represented before,” Fitzpatrick said.The vast majority of his spending was on printed campaign mailers. He said that he wanted to get his priorities in front of future constituents, many of whom might be new to him. Fitzpatrick said he has also been out knocking on doors in a low-pressure campaign to meet residents in the district. His campaign has also donated $2,000 in this reporting period to Montanans for Fair Elections, a group that opposes CI-126 and CI-127, both of which would tweak voting laws in the state.Read more about the constitutional initiatives here.The second-largest campaign spending money over the past six weeks was from Hannah Trebas, the Republican candidate for House District 19. Her campaign reported $12,034 in expenditures, again mostly on printed advertising. Trebas has also received a large sum of outside spending relative to other area legislative campaigns. Americans for Prosperity, a national conservative group, ponied up more than $10,000 in support of Trebas in that period.Trebas’ opponent, Democrat and former Cascade County Commissioner Jane Weber, was not far behind. Her campaign spent $9,300 on print, radio and video advertising in the past six weeks. Public lands conservation group Wild Montana Voter Fund spent $4,229 in support of Weber during the period.In general, most legislative candidates spent big on printed advertisements, as many have noticed in their mailboxes. In the weeks leading up to the election, Cascade County commissioner candidates were the exception. Republican Eric Hinebauch, write-in Republican Rae Grulkowski and Democrat Don Ryan allocated funds toward Facebook, radio and video advertising.Tax MattersTaxpayers in the Great Falls Public Schools district will pick up the tab for $681,934 in property tax revenue after the Montana Department of Revenue issued a revaluation for the Calumet refinery, reducing its taxable value.Tax bills will likely be sent late due to this change, as the Cascade County Treasurer’s Office needed to wait for these changes to finalize documents. Due dates will be pushed back accordingly.Spread across the tax base, the impact will be an additional $21.68 on a $300,000 home, according to school district documents. The district’s board of trustees approved the revision to its tax levy on Oct. 28. During that meeting, Director of Business Operations Brian Patrick compared the tax base to glasses of water that get redistributed.“Their’s got reduced, so it goes to everybody else’s glass,” Patrick said. “So as property taxpayers, we all pay just a little bit more in our taxes to make up for the amount that Calumet got reduced in their overall levy.”While this results in an increase for property owners, they can still expect to pay a bit less than last year. The initial budget, passed in August, estimated a savings of $75 on a $300,000 home due to the increases in property values. The savings now will be a bit less, though the budget still leaves the school district with a gap to cover in order to meet expenses.Cascade County commissioners met on Oct. 30 to approve the change as well because the county must approve tax levies in its area.The DOR did not return requests for more information on the revaluation.Dealings between Calumet and the DOR have disrupted county budgeting processes for years. A similar situation happened in 2021 when the school district had to recoup $518,000 after the state lowered Calumet’s property valuation for that year. That followed a three-year tax protest that ultimately reduced the company’s tax bill by $5.9 million.At the same time, Calumet’s biofuels subsidiary, Montana Renewables, receives tax breaks from both the city and the county. Calumet and Montana Renewables have three current tax appeal cases pending with the state, which creates uncertainty in the amount of tax proceeds the city, county and school district will receive.Public NoticeThe next meeting of the Great Falls City Commission has been postponed to avoid an Election Day overlap. The first regular meeting of November is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 6.A public hearing is scheduled for the nuisance property at 613 9th Ave. S., which was declared as such in February. After the property owner failed to make repairs, the city contracted to complete the work at a cost of $9,450. City commissioners will consider a resolution that If the property owner doesn’t pay the sum within five days, the city will assess the amount through property taxes.Commissioners will also consider a nearly $2 million contract to make improvements at the westside pump station of the wastewater treatment plant. The project would replace a 52-year-old bar screen that filters sewage water. The new unit will reduce the volume of waste for disposal after screening, according to city documents. The project includes HVAC, electrical and structural upgrades as well.Sletten Construction submitted the only bid of $1,987,800. Funding would come from the public works capital improvement plan.Photo Op Credit: Matt Hudson/MTFPGet out and participate on Election Day. But remember that no matter the outcome, the sun will rise again on Wednesday.Calling all photographers: Submit a photo for Great Falls This Week to [email protected] post 5 Things to Know for Election Day appeared first on Montana Free Press.