�ԹϺ���

Sign up for the free Helena This Week newsletter and stay in the loop on Helena city government, public school meetings, business news and upcoming entertainment and events.

5/12/2025

“Helena This Week” is reported and written By JoVonne Wagner. Send your Helena news and tips to jwagner@montanafreepress.org.

---

Residents approved one school levy, budget cuts still needed

Helenans approved one of the three school levies last week, alleviating some of the school district’s elementary general fund deficit but leaving technology issues unresolved, school officials said.

While voters passed the requested $293,681 elementary general fund levy, they narrowly rejected the two technology levies for the district’s elementary and high schools, which totaled about $3 million. 

“We are grateful to Helena voters for the passage of the Elementary General Fund Levy,” Superintendent Rex Weltz said in a school press release. “We know that many in our community are living on fixed incomes and feeling the pressure of increased property taxes in recent years yet chose to support public education. We do not take it lightly or for granted. We truly are thankful for the Helena community that values their high-quality education system.”

The elementary technology levy failed with approximately 7,804 “no” votes (51%) and 7,375 “yes” votes (49%). The high school technology levy received 8,703 “no” votes (50.4%) and 7,944 “yes” votes (49.6%), according to the Lewis and Clark County elections office.

With the approved elementary general fund levy, property owners can expect an annual tax increase of $7.57 for homes valued at $300,000, while homes valued at $600,000 will have a $15.15 tax increase. 

The elementary general fund levy will bring down the school’s $2 million budget deficit to about $1.7 million, but the district will still need to make cuts to balance its budget, according to district officials. 

While the passage of the elementary fund levy provides some clarity, the extent of the necessary cuts won’t be known until school trustees decide whether to close Hawthorne Elementary when they vote on June 10, school district chief of staff Barbara Ridgway said in an email to �ԹϺ���.

In addition to balancing the budget, with the failure of both technology levies, the district will need to draw money from other funds in order to meet basic technology needs, according to school officials.

“It’s important to understand that the technology levy that was voted down was not intended to fund additional Chromebooks that would facilitate additional screen time,” Ridgway said. “What we lost was the ability to adequately support the technology operations throughout the district.”

Ridgeway said that includes things like maintaining security cameras and emergency communication systems and accessing online resources and textbooks. 

“We simply will not have the financial resources to continue to operate the multitude of technological needs that are required to learn and work in today’s world,” Ridgway said. 

---

Public Notice

Helena Public Schools’ next board of trustees meeting will be on Tuesday, May 13, at the Lincoln Center, 1325 Poplar St., from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The agenda will be available on the school district on Monday before the meeting. 

---

5 Things to Know in Helena 

Mayor, commission reject pay raise: In a city meeting last week, the commission unanimously rejected a 2.5% pay raise for themselves and the mayor. The raises would have increased the salaries by $375 a month for the mayor and $275 a month for commissioners. Commissioner Emily Dean said during the meeting that holding off until next year because of “tight budget margins” seemed more appropriate. 

Second 911 center: During a joint city-county commission meeting last week, staff with the Helena Police Department’s 911 emergency dispatch center presented its 2026 budget, which includes the department’s goal of determining the location, funding and infrastructure for a second dispatch center. Zach Slattery, the center’s operational manager, said that a second “back-up” location for the dispatch center is needed in case the primary site becomes unusable. Last year, the center processed about 115,000 phone calls and over 700,000 radio transmissions and served about 26 public safety agencies.

New library for East Helena? The Lewis & Clark Library executive director, John Finn, also reported during the joint commission meeting that the library is working to add a new location in East Helena. Finn said the current library is about 2,000 square feet and can no longer provide adequate services for the fast-growing city.

“We’re jumping ahead and making an investment,” Finn said. “We’re looking at potential sites, working with the city of East Helena and hopefully negotiating soon on a parcel that’s in JFK Park.”

School board trustee results: Helenans last week elected incumbents Kay Satre and Siobhan Hathhorn and newcomer Jenny Murnane Butcher to the school board of trustees. Satre led the results with 7,777 votes, followed by Hathhorn with 6,800 votes and Murnane Butcher with 6,675. The trustees will be sworn in during a special school board meeting on Thursday, May 22.

Holter Museum programs on the line: The Holter Museum of Art could potentially discontinue its in-school residencies and school garden program after not receiving a Montana Arts Council grant. In the museum’s May newsletter, executive director Christina Barbachano wrote that the change in funding for the long-running program will impact schools across the area.

“It appears that the National Endowment for the Arts is on the chopping block, and this directly and severely impacts the Montana Arts Council (and most other State arts agencies),” Barbachano wrote. “Ultimately, it devastates our organization’s ability to keep a program that is scheduled to serve over 1,000 elementary school students at seven different Helena area schools for next year.”  

---

Verbatim

“ I think, as Americans, we have a somewhat of a responsibility for our fellow citizens to speak up for him and to put him in a good light as he starts out. So I’m hoping that’s what our country can do. I think it can unite our country closer to the Catholic Church and to the Vatican, to the pope.

“I think he’s gonna understand our culture completely and can talk into it and maybe even have more credibility of being able to say, ‘Wealth is destroying you guys, what are you doing?’ Whatever it might be. Right? When he knows our judicial system, he knows our legislative system. He knows our processes that happen in our country, and so he can maybe look at our leaders and say, ‘Give me a break, who [do] you think you’re talking to?’”

— Bishop Austin Anthony Vetter of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena speaking Friday on the significance of Robert Prevost being elected this week as the first American pope. Prevost has taken the papal name Leo XIV,. 

Bishops reacted to the news of a new pope, including Bishop Vetter, who spent time with Cardinal Prevost in 2023 during the Formation for New Bishops’ Program, according to a press release.

---

New on the Block 

Gulch Distillers announced last week that it has opened a new tasting room and bottle shop at its location at 4 W. Lawrence St. The tasting room is open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., and customers can buy up to 4.5 liters and consume up to two ounces of alcohol a day on location. According to a from the business, the tasting room is part of the distiller’s factory expansion and was partially funded by the Montana Department of Agriculture’s Growth Through Agriculture Program. 

---

Eye on Helena 

REPORT AN ERROR

BEST PRACTICES

ABOUT MTFP