Property Taxes in Missoula County May 2024 – Josh Slotnick Missoula County Commissioner

Leadership Intensive Fundamentals of Community Organizing – 5/29-30 – Missoula

Catalyst 2024 Exploring your personal leadership – 5/29-30 – Fairmont Hot Springs

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Property Taxes in Missoula County May 2024 – Josh Slotnick Missoula County Commissioner

  Impact of Tax Rate on Residential Property

  The state Legislature sets the tax rate for each class of property.

  DOR is required by law to notify the Legislature what the new tax
  rate would need to be keep property taxes for residential properties
  flat. In 2022, lawmakers declined to reduce the rate from 1.35% to
  0.94%.

• Montana’s stubborn childcare conundrum

  Childcare shortages are keeping tens of thousands of Montanans out of the workforce. Families, providers, policymakers and higher education are searching for a solution.

• County Commissioners propose taxing tourists to help Montana residents with property taxes

  Tourists get to enjoy all the amenities of Missoula without having to pay local taxes for them, and Missoula County Commissioner Josh Slotnick told lawmakers Wednesday he thinks they should pay their fair share.

• County Commissioners provide Montana legislators with potential fixes to property tax system
  During a Local Government Interim Committee meeting, Missoula County’s Josh Slotnick and Cascade County’s Joe Briggs told the lawmakers a study group has come up with three ideas that could lessen the burden on residential homeowners, who saw skyrocketing tax rates this year due to higher appraisals and the legislature failing to adjust the tax rate.
• Transition: A time for intentionality – Adam Jespersen – New Executive Director, Montana Nonprofit Association

  This week officially marks two weeks of me being the Executive Director of MNA.

• Guy Kawasadi and Maureen Dunne: Unlocking the Power of Neurodivergent Talent

  In this episode, we dive into Maureen’s groundbreaking book, The Neurodiversity Edge, which presents a framework for embracing the strengths of individuals with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. Maureen challenges the status quo, pushing organizations to look beyond the deficit-based perspective and recognize the vast potential of neurodivergent minds.

• Washington Post: Montana’s real estate bonanza turns political as property taxes soar

  “What’s happened is the real rich people have bought up a lot of acreage, a lot of big ranches.  We’re farmers over 50 years, and then for 10 years here, we’ve contributed greatly to the economy. And now we’re getting penalized for it.”

City of Bozeman Economic Development

• Bozeman allocates tax money to workforce housing project

  Boundary Development is proposing a three-phase project on the site, including two four-story apartment buildings in phases one and two that would be entirely income-restricted rental units.

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Upcoming Trainings: Government Contracting Certifications, Business Financials, and more!

  Are you a small or disadvantaged business looking to unlock new opportunities in government contracting? Join Great Falls APEX for an informative session where we will be joined by Small Business Specialists for the Department of Transportation with the Civil Rights Bureau.

Montana Business

• Missoula, Montana’s Garden City Fungi – It’s much more than mushrooms.

  Garden City Fungi is not merely a farm; it’s a living laboratory of mycological possibilities. We embrace the role of educators, assisting both customers and the scientific community in mycelium cultivation. Our consultations and collaborations fuel the advancement of mycology, enriching the realm of scientific discovery.

Visit Montana

• Eight Great Montana Road Trips

  The series also highlights activities for adventurers, families, and history buffs alike with guides for stargazing and examining dinosaur bones.

• The Montana Dinosaur Trail – Montana Paleontology Top Ten +

  This statewide trail runs across Montana and consists of 14 locations from the Montana Dinosaur Center in Bynum to the Carter County Museum in Ekalaka. Each location offers a glimpse at the historic discoveries in the state and provides visitors with a better understanding of the giants that once inhabited our planet.

Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana

• Video: Meet the High School Students Running a Recycling Business

  Imagine a shop class that makes money and buys its own tools. At Cañon City High School, students learn about technology and business all at once.

21st Century Education Initiative – “You Should Care…”

• Montana’s Camp Paxson becomes the classroom at Larch Outdoor Education Program

  The program is designed for students in fifth, sixth and seventh grades but can be adapted for other ages. Earlier this week, students in those grades from Potomac School, Paxson Elementary and Missoula International School filled the rustic camp, which the Civilian Conservation Corps built in 1939 and ’40 on the west side of where the Clearwater River flows into Seeley Lake.

• Net-zero education: the ‘Duolingo’ of green skills

  Could an AI-powered app empower the next generation of workers?

• Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Says This Is the No. 1 Difference Between People With Average Careers and Super Successful Ones
  “The smartest people are constantly revising their understanding, reconsidering a problem they thought they’d already solved. They’re open to new points of view, new information, new ideas, contradictions, and challenges to their own way of thinking,” Jeff Bezos
• Schools Look for Ways to Bring More Multilingual Education into the Curriculum

  Bilingual children are shown to have better focus and logical reasoning, and – according to Sandoval – will be suited to a wider range of opportunities in the workforce.

• When school lunch is free

  “We’ve done a lot of good things to feed kids here in Butte. But introducing universal free meals was probably the best thing we ever did.”

Government Technology

• How mine pit lakes could help to tackle climate change – Is Butte’s Berkeley Pit a Candidate?

  This low-cost method turns old mine infrastructure into a powerful carbon sink

Non-Profit News

• Catalyst 2024 Exploring your personal leadership – 5/29-30 – Fairmont Hot Springs

  Join us May 29th – 30th in Fairmont, MT for two days exploring your personal leadership and gathering with other leaders from across the state.

Careers

• French woman finds job by strapping CV to back – and going for a run

  With just one run, her novel marketing strategy was seen 250,000 times on social media, been the subject of news articles and resulted in ten interviews

Transportation

• Don’t Panic, Wireless EV Charging Can Calm The EV Charging Station Chaos

  “Wireless charging can reduce battery size and cost, extend driving range, reduce pressure on the electric grid, and enable the electrification of autonomous vehicles,” Stevens also noted.

• A Major Roadblock for Autonomous Cars: Motorists Believe They Drive Better

  People want less automation for themselves than they want for others.

• Survey: More see Missoula’s transportation system in decline

  A transportation survey sponsored by Missoula’s Metropolitan Planning Organization found that a growing number of people see the city’s transportation system in decline – a response that took some members by surprise.

• Passenger train route through Montana in planning stages

  “We’re planning on something that will be transformational across Montana,” said David Strohmaier, the Chair of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority.

Energy and Climate Change

• Everyone’s Pumped About Heat Pumps

  This week on Gadget Lab, we talk about the surging popularity of heat pumps, the ultra-energy-efficient heating and cooling appliances we’ve called “climate superheroes.”

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