= Form of government =

Great Falls operates under the '''Commission-Manager''' form of government, established by charter, with self-governing powers.

The City Charter was adopted '''June 3, 1986''' and took effect '''July 1, 1986'''.

Under it, the [[CityCommission]] is the legislative and policy-making body. The Commission employs a [[CityManager]] to direct the day-to-day operations of the City and to carry out Commission policy. The Manager is assisted by staff and by the directors of the [[Departments]].

Self-governing powers matter in practice: a self-governing city may exercise any power not expressly prohibited to it by the state constitution, statute or its own charter, rather than only those powers expressly granted. That is why the City can legislate on matters — fireworks, ethics, nuisance, parking administration — where a general-powers municipality would need a specific grant.

Great Falls is a First Class Montana city, founded 1884 and incorporated 1888, the county seat of [[CascadeCounty]], and the third largest city in the state.

= The charter and the mills =

The charter fixes some tax limits directly, including the mill limit for the library. When state legislation changed mill values in 2025, the Commission had to recalibrate that charter limit by resolution rather than by charter amendment — see [[LibraryMillLevy]].

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Form of government: https://greatfallsmt.gov/264/Form-of-Government
Demographics: https://greatfallsmt.gov/229/Demographics

[[CityCommission]] · [[CityManager]] · [[OfficialCode]] · [[Categories]]