More cutting and some help from a federal pot of money helped Lincoln County officials set a balanced budget last week.

The county commissioners unanimously approved a $15.7 million budget for fiscal year 2026 at their weekly meeting on Sept. 3.

Efforts to balance the budget got a boost of $1.3 million from the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund. About $500,000 was cut from the sheriff’s office budget, but the commissioners will use $300,000 from Payment in Lieu of Taxes dollars to buy new vehicles. The other $200,000 would have went for updating dispatch equipment.

The Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund money, of which the county received $12 million in 2022, originated from an American Rescue Plan appropriation of $2 billion across fiscal years 2022 and 2023 to provide payments to eligible revenue sharing counties and eligible Tribal governments for use on any governmental purpose except for a lobbying activity. Then President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law in March 2021.

“The cuts we made weren’t enough to make up the gap and the federal money we used is an allowable use,” District 3 Commissioner Noel Duram said at the Sept. 3 meeting. “We do need to find ways to improve our budget and it wouldn’t hurt if we got more than 52 cents per acre from the feds.”

For homes valued at $100,000, their property taxes will increase $100.01. For a home worth $300,000, the increase is $300.02 and for a home valued at $600,000, it is $600.05. Those property tax increases are identical to what occurred the last two years.

About $7 million from the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund has been invested and the dividend from it was used to pay for Cost of Living Adjustment pay increases for elected county employees.

District 1 Commissioner Brent Teske said he hoped the Master Stewardship Agreement would help in the future. The agreement opens the door for the county to thin stands of trees on national forest lands adjacent to developed private properties.

The county, through the Lincoln County Port Authority, will have the ability to manage Forest Service lands within the Wildland Urban Interface. The agreement may also help the county improve its bottom line. According to the Master Stewardship Agreement, the county can receive money from the Forest Service for work it has done.

The commissioners did receive some good news prior to approving the budget from Kootenai National Forest Supervisor Chad Benson.

“We’re poised to exceed our goal of selling 62 million board feet this year,” Benson said. “We’ll know tomorrow about 25-30 million board feet.”

Duram asked Benson if he knew how much had been cut.

“I’m not sure of what’s been cut, but a lot of the contracts are for seven years and that includes the time it takes to build roads,” Benson said. “If the market is up for lumber, you’ll see more cut.”

Benson also mentioned a 20-million board feet project - Fleetwood Jack - that is being offered for sale. 

While no public comment was made during the Sept. 3 budget meeting, a few people spoke critically of the county's budget woes at the Aug. 27 hearing on fiscal matters. They included Libby resident D.C. Orr and local attorney Amy Guth.

“You’re sitting on a gold mine in land given to you by Stimson and the money is being funneled into private pockets,” Orr said. “You could have had $1.4 million right there.”

Guth is representing Orr and Libby resident Daniel Torgison in a suit against the county alleging violation of the right of public participation and open meeting laws. Torgison’s effort is to stop further business dealings or nullify decisions made between May 2022 and April 2025 involving the sale of Port Authority land.

Fifth Judicial District Court Judge Luke Berger issued an order July 18 denying Torgison's motion for a preliminary injunction. But Guth appealed that decision to the Montana Supreme Court.

“You’re robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Guth said at the Aug. 27 hearing. “You’re in deep, deep trouble.”

She referenced what happened in Glacier County several years ago when it temporarily laid off about half its workforce. 

“The road you’re going down is toward a bankruptcy. An auditor makes decisions for this county, including decisions, as in Glacier County, to lay off county employees,” Guth said. “You can’t just keep taking money from different pots and putting it into the general fund as you feel like it’s necessary. That money is there for emergencies, not to run the county.”

District 2 Commissioner Jim Hammons acknowledged that the county’s current path isn’t sustainable and serious cuts may have to be made in the future.

When asked if any other federal money may be available for such bailouts, Teske said he knew of none.

“But that was the case with the [Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund] funds. We didn’t know that was going to be available before it came out,” Teske said.