A City Commission work session is a public meeting at which the CityCommission receives presentations and discusses matters, but does not vote. Formal action on anything raised at a work session happens later, at a regular meeting, where it appears as an agenda item with a motion and a recorded vote.
Work sessions are held the same day as regular meetings, earlier in the evening, in the Gibson Room, Room 212 of the CivicCenter. Special work sessions are called separately — for budget presentations, board candidate interviews, retreats and litigation updates. See MeetingSchedule.
Minutes are taken and posted like any other meeting, and the sessions are recorded for City-190.
Reading the work session record is the best way to see a decision coming. Recurring subjects across 2025 and 2026 include the annual utility and sanitation rate analyses, quarterly budget reviews, department budget presentations, the growth policy update, the DowntownParkingProgram, the StrategicCapitalInvestmentReserve, street condition assessments, and annual reports from the library, the BusinessImprovementDistrict and Park and Recreation.
Each January the Commission holds a facilitated retreat as a special work session to set priorities for the year — see SpecialWorkSession2025-01-03 and SpecialWorkSession2026-01-28.
Work session pages here are named WorkSession2026-06-16 and so on; special ones SpecialWorkSession2026-04-20.
Agenda Center, work session category: https://greatfallsmt.gov/AgendaCenter