Review looks into form of government
HOT SPRINGS – Following an extremely close vote in the June primaries the town of Hot Springs will begin preparations to go forward with the approved Local Government Review.
The vote, where residents of Hot Springs voted 41 to 40 in favor of holding the aforementioned review, was a result of a ballot measure, which comes up every ten years in Montana.
The local government review option asks voters to decide if they want to elect and fund a study commission to review their city and county forms of government.
Mayor of Hot Springs Randy Woods noted there might have been some confusion regarding the nature of the review in question.
“The review is not reviewing what the government is doing today. It’s reviewing the form the local government is using,” Woods said.
Woods noted the review will not be investigating how the government in Hot Springs is operating now but whether citizens want to alter the current form of it.
Woods listed town-hall meetings and commissioner based governments as alternatives to the mayoral and council form the town of Hot Springs currently is administered by.
Under the present system the town council directs and votes on policy, while the mayor handles the day-to-day operations of a local government.
Article IX, Section 9 of the 1972 Constitution of the state of Montana, started the current ten-year system of local government reviews.
Woods explained government reviews are not uncommon, especially in small communities such as Hot Springs, where people take a particular interest in their local elected officials.
“It happens quite a bit in small communities,” Woods said.
The preparations for the approved review will continue throughout the year.
The town of Hot Springs will now elect five members of the community to serve on the local government review commission, which will look into the form of government currently in place in town.
Those interested in serving on this commission have until August 11 to file for this election and become candidates.
In the General Election on November 4, voters in Hot Springs will have an opportunity to elect the five commissioners they want to send to the review.
The elected five commissioners will attend the Study Commissioners Workshop, hosted by the Montana State University Local Government Center in Bozeman.
The workshop will begin on December 8 and will wrap up the following day on December 9.
If the commission Hot Springs elects to send to Bozeman proposes changes to the current system in place, their suggested alterations will be placed on the ballot for voters to decide on.
The vote on any proposed changes will appear on the ballot during the General Election of November 2016.
There are several costs involved with running this type of commission, which will be funded through a tax levy.
Anticipated costs include the registration fee for the Local Government Review Study Commission training session at the MSU Local Government Center in Bozeman.
Other costs include printing costs for reports, clerical support during the workshop, community open houses and community surveys.
Additionally, travel expenses and any additional training or consultants required by the state are covered by the funds raised through the levy.
Though other communities in northwestern Montana will be holding their own reviews, Hot Springs was the only town in Sanders County to vote for a government review in this election.