The Bigfork Fire Department is debating its budget priorities after the implementation of a new state law that will impact mill levy revenue in the coming years.  

Voters in the fire district approved a permanent mill levy in September 2025 that is estimated to generate $1.2 million in its first year. The funding was slated to be used to hire additional full-time staff, raise firefighter pay, expand training opportunities and replace outdated vehicles.  

But with the passage of Senate Bill 542, the fire department will no longer be able to accomplish all of those goals, department officials warned at meeting last month. 

The bill approved in the 2025 session reworks the state’s property tax collection system and fundamentally changed the funding mechanisms for mill levies. 

Historically, permanent mill levies in Montana, which are tied to property value assessments, increase year over year as property values increase and new residents move into a district. 

Under SB 542, all mill levies are set at a fixed amount based on the previous year’s property assessment. Bigfork Fire District’s mill levy is set at $1.2 million based on 2024 assessments and will not increase in the future. 

“[The law] basically set a cap on how much money we can collect each year that doesn't compensate for growth or inflation, which puts us in a tough situation” explained Bigfork Fire Public Information Officer Allen Benitez.  

Benitez said SB 542 was still undergoing changes while the board planned its mill levy request last year, so they did not believe the bill would affect them.  

“We thought at that time we would be exempt, because most laws look forward, as opposed to going backward. Turns out, all of us were wrong. They changed the law on what we could collect going forward from an increasing mill levy to a fixed dollar amount.”   

Now, the Bigfork Fire District board finds itself unable to fund everything they hoped for after the passage of the mill levy last year. 

At their March 31 meeting, board members debated a number of budget options for the 2026-27 year, including increasing the number of permanent firefighters, increasing pay for firefighters, hiring an assistant fire chief and increasing the administrative assistant’s position from part time to full time.   

Board members agreed that pay increases for firefighters should be the highest priority.  

Currently, the Bigfork Fire Department has the lowest paid firefighters in the Flathead Valley, officials said. Hourly pay is $18-20 per hour, depending on seniority, and other fire departments pay anywhere from $6-10 per hour more than Bigfork. Without pay increases, the board is concerned talented firefighters will go elsewhere. Since pay increases are negotiated with union representatives, the board was unable to propose an exact number in the meeting.  

The board also discussed the need for additional full-time firefighters, citing an increase in calls in recent years. The station averaged 300 calls per year 10 years ago; now they respond to an average of 1,300 per year. 

The fire district added a fourth firefighter per shift in summer 2025, which allowed the station to respond to two calls at once. On one out of every three calls, a second call would come in while a team was still responding to the first.  

“The idea with having five people is there's hopefully at least one, one or three people in the station,” Benitez said.  

“Our trend this year seems to be trending upward again. It still seems to be running closer to 40% of the time we're getting a second call when the first one's out.” 

Benitez pointed out that since adding the fourth position, he only gets called in as a volunteer once a month, as opposed to once a week. With a record high of 18 volunteers, double the number a few years ago, adding a fifth position may not be as high of a priority.  

Fire Chief Jeremy Patton advocated for hiring an assistant fire chief, a position which has been vacant since 2022. 

“There's a gap between my position and the line staff now and there needs to be more continuity,” Patton said. “That is also a Monday through Friday position where you would have that extra help at the station for hours out of each day. So there's almost a double benefit to filling that position.” 

Benitez argued increasing the administrative assistant’s role from part time to full time would provide the most “bang for your buck.” Benitez said he has been filling in many of the gaps for administrative duties in his capacity as a volunteer, but he does not plan to remain on the board after his term expires in May 2027.  

Looking toward future years, Benitez said budget dilemmas will compound as operational costs and call volume increase while the budget remains stagnant.  

“You have to generate more income. The only way you generate more income is to raise the billing rates across the board or you go back for another mill levy,” Benitez said. "Getting another mill levy passed in the next 10 to 15 years is pretty slim, in my opinion.”

The next fire district board meeting is April 28 at 5:30 p.m. in the Bigfork Fire Hall at 810 Grand Ave.

Reporter Elsa Ericksen can be reached at 406-758-4459 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.