After 17 months of deliberation, the Columbia Falls Study Commission will likely proceed with placing the question of self-governing powers for the city to a public vote in the November election.After 17 months of deliberation, the Columbia Falls Study Commission will likely put the question of self-governing powers for the city to a public vote in the November election.

Self-governing powers would give the city the ability to pass ordinances as long as they are not contrary to state and federal statutes.

The state already has a long list of laws that limits the powers of cities, the most recent being the Montana Land Use Planning Act, which greatly controls the way most cities in the state regulate growth within city limits.

Still, the committee, made up of Roger Hopkins, Connie Konopatzke and Susan Nicosia decided to go ahead with presenting the question of whether Columbia Falls should have the powers.

Nicosia said she does not oppose self-governing powers, but suggested the city wait until it needs them. But Hopkins and Konopatzke, in a nutshell, both agreed that in a rapidly changing world, it might make sense to have them now, rather than later.

The question has brought little public response. A public hearing drew just two people last week and neither one of them lived in the city limits. One man was from Polson.

Self-governing powers have historically been useful for some cities, noted Ashley Kent of the Local Government Center.

Back in the early 2000s the city of Helena banned indoor smoking, she noted. The Montana Tavern Association sued, claiming the city had no right to regulate the indoor air at a business, but the city prevailed.

The commission is expected to finalize its report and release it at its June 18 meeting. The measure then would go on the ballot in November.

The commission was formed under state law, which requires cities to ask voters on whether they would support a commission to study their city’s form of government. The question is asked every 10 years under the Montana Constitution.

In 2024 voters in Columbia Falls said yes and the commission was formed. While no changes to the city’s form of government were proposed, (the city has had a city manager form of government since 1994) the question of self-governing powers did arise.