HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-25-24 Public Comment - P. Johnson - Bozeman Budget - 6--
Short time ago our homes were reassessed and the GOP led legislature in Helena was blamed for what
everyone assumed would be a drastic tax increase.
Our initial school budget was approximately$/ 160 per every man,woman, and child in Bozeman.
Our city budget was initially$345,which is approximately$6900 per man,woman,and child in
Bozeman.
J
I find it odd that only now are some Iquestions being raised. Isn't it odd that a city which cannot seem to
maintain a city manager can come up with such grandiose plans for our tax dollars?
What I have observed in my long residency in Bozeman, is that Jeff Krause was the only commission
member with a concept of money and the taxpayer. All the other city commissioners have appeared to
be in "lock-step" on some half-baked mission. i.e. metropolitan or micro-metropolitan concept of
Bozeman.
Do the mathematics there aren't enough taxpayers in this town, county,or state to turn Bozeman into a
metropolitan city. What do we produce? We are a tourist town, maybe a refugee camp, or as a friend
calls Bozeman "Entitlement Town USA" not to be confused with Greenbay, WI which calls itself"Title
Town USA.
I've seen the come-ons in travel magazines. All this hype has pretty well inflated nearly everything in this
community. For example,visitors have complained to me about$500 a night hotel fees. My question is
how much of this money leaves this community for the coffers of some out-of-state corporation?
I raised the phone to a poll regarding a coming election. They pleaded with me to vote for"streamline
service" saying it would be FREE. They also said there would be 3 directors. I ask streamline drivers
when I see them how many riders they get in a shift. 80 riders in a shift,was the high number. I find this
rather wasteful usage for a 30 plus passenger conveyance.
It is apparently easy to win an election with a 30 percent turnout,especially if public employees,
realtors, developers, and land speculators are voting. The voters with "skin-in-the-game "don't stand
much of a chance.
I asked a previous mayor what my purpose, as a long-time resident of Bozeman was.Was I merely to
foot the bill for making my town into a showplace in order to enrich the realtors,developers and land
speculators? The mayor's answer was, "with all this growth your taxes will probably go down". This
budget shows that this is not the case. I don't know anywhere on earth that this answer would be true.
I was under the impression that"arterial collector"was voted in primarily to fix the Kagy Blvd.
congestion, instead we've roundabouts some of which go nowhere.
About one tenth of the cost of our Safety Center was to be offset by the sale of the firehouse at Rouse
and Mendenhall Aves. When will this occur?
Did we not lose 400 plus trees and blame it on Climate Change? Maybe,we should hire a Hydrologist to
explain the ECOSYSTEM that Bozeman is situated in. Preferably before we run ourselves out of water or
experience another forest fire such as that which occurred in Bridger Canyon.
Saving water in order to do more building does no one any good. The water down the sink or sewer is
completely lost to the HYDROLOGIC Cycle.
WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE RESIDENT OF BOZEMAN GET OUT OF THIS NEW BUDGET? I'd love to see a
complete breakdown of the proposed budget.
Perhaps a GOFUND ME in order to hire a Forensic Accountant would be in order.
Paul (406) 587 6155