This story is excerpted from Missoula This Week, a weekly newsletter on Missoula city government, public school meetings, business news and upcoming entertainment and events. Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every Friday. Sign up When I saw reports that a group of residents in the Seeley-Swan area is exploring the possibility of splitting from Missoula County, I was intrigued. The concept of creating a new county seems like a relic of the past, and indeed, Montana’s 56th county, Petroleum, was created in 1925. This discussion among rural Missoula County residents isn’t new, but it’s gained momentum recently, with a new, growing Facebook group and a feasibility study digging into the details. This week, I called Swan Valley Community Council member and Condon resident Ted Morgan (on his landline) to talk about the study and why some residents are looking to break away from Missoula County. “We just see a lot of tax dollars going to county initiatives closer to urban areas,” he said Wednesday. “We see our tax dollars going up every year, and there’s not a marked effect on rural people.” Residents have discussed separating from Missoula County for about 15 years, Morgan said. A group originally explored moving the Condon area into Lake County but didn’t move forward because both Missoula and Lake counties would have to vote in favor of the change, he said. Morgan, who ran as a Republican for the state Legislature in 2024, said he and his wife are heavily involved in the community, and he took up the new county cause after hearing about it from other area residents. Morgan said a “pretty quiet” group of about 10 people has been working on the feasibility study for more than a year. Last year, the group worked with Republican Sens. Forrest Mandeville and Becky Beard on a resolution to study how to create new counties in Montana, Morgan said. The bill passed the Senate but died in the House when the legislative session ended. Morgan said residents also talked to the Missoula County commissioners a couple of years ago about separation options. The group explored if Condon could join Lake County and Arlee join Missoula County, but the areas’ taxable values didn’t line up, he said. “We’re looking to work with the county, as we always are and still will be, about finding a solution that makes sense,” Morgan said. The feasibility study proposes the new “county 57” to start west of Johnsrud Road near Potomac and continue along the Highway 200 and 83 corridors stretching through the Potomac Valley, Greenough, Seeley Lake and Condon. Morgan said the area has seen an increase in taxable values since 2020 and includes “massive” second homes and resorts. That increase makes the new county a more realistic proposition, he said. “Our tax base, while small, is definitely enough to run its own government,” Morgan said. According to the feasibility study, the 6,435 parcels located in the proposed new county have an assessed taxable value of $31.13 million. That’s higher than Mineral and Powell counties, the report said. Operating a “lean governance model,” the new county could reduce the county-level property tax burden for residents while maintaining full service levels, according to the report. The proposal calls for a county government with 18 to 20 employees working in administration, public works, law enforcement and other positions. Morgan said the county would not build its own jail, but would contract with another county to use its facility. To move forward, the group must present a petition to the Missoula County commissioners signed by at least 50% of the registered voters of the proposed new county. If the signatures are verified, the county would hold an election. Morgan said the group is working with lawmakers to introduce a bill in the upcoming 2027 legislative session to change the rule requiring the entire county to vote on creating a new county, calling it “undemocratic.” Residents are also working to formalize the group in the coming weeks and begin fundraising for legal resources and marketing, Morgan said. That will include sending out mailers, advertising, door knocking, meeting with business owners and holding town halls in the affected communities, he said. “This is not coming out of animosity or hate toward Missoula County,” Morgan said. “When people take a step back and look at what’s happening, a lot of people think it makes sense.” I also called Missoula County Commissioner Juanita Vero, who lives in Greenough, to get her perspective as an elected official and rural resident. Vero told me the proposal is working through its process and “we’ll see what happens.” She said the county appreciates when residents are civically engaged and want to learn about local government. “The best we can do is stay engaged in both directions,” she said. Vero said while it’s easy to think the city of Missoula and urban area residents get a lot of attention, the county is spending a lot of energy in the rural areas through things like land use planning, open space projects and community grants. “The time and effort county staff put into the rural areas, it’s not something that’s celebrated enough or talked about enough,” she said. Vero encouraged residents to reach out to the county commissioners and staff members, sign up for newsletters and to peruse the county’s website and property tax information page. “People are hungry for information,” she said. “When they don’t get that information, it’s easy for folks to make up their own answers.” In-depth, independent reporting on the stories impacting your community from reporters who know your town. The post A Missoula County without the Seeley-Swan?  appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less