= City budget =

The City of Great Falls operates on a fiscal year running July 1 to June 30. The budget is adopted by resolution of the [[CityCommission]] after a public hearing, and the [[AnnualTaxLevy]] follows a fortnight later.

= The cycle =

As the Finance Director set it out at the FY2027 hearing:

* '''January''' — the Commission meets for its priorities retreat; see [[CommissionPriorities]]. Formally this precedes the budget process, but it is a critical element of it. See [[SpecialWorkSession2026-01-28]]
* '''Spring''' — departments develop requested budgets; department presentations to the Commission at a special work session. See [[SpecialWorkSession2026-04-20]]
* '''Early summre''' — the [[CityManager]] develops the proposed budget; individual budget presentations for [[MunicipalCourt]] and the [[GreatFallsPublicLibrary]] at work sessions
* '''July''' — the full proposed budget is presented at a work session and the budget hearing is set
* '''First August meeting''' — public hearings on the intent to increase property tax and on the annual budget resolution
* '''Second August meeting''' — public hearings on the assessment resolutions for each district, and the annual tax levy

= Recent adoptions =

* FY2026 — [[Resolution10579]], adopted at [[CityCommission2025-08-05]]
* FY2027 — [[Resolution10635]], adopted at [[CityCommission2026-08-04]] after an amendment failed

The [[AnnualComprehensiveFinancialReport]] closes the loop the following winter.

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Budget: https://greatfallsmt.gov/350/Budget
FY 2026-27 Budge: https://greatfallsmt.gov/1136/FY-2026-27-Budget

[[FinanceDepartment]] · [[AnnualTaxLevy]] · [[Categories]]