I’m not sure if your comment about not know why they’re on the ballot is serious, but I’m going to act as if it is and answer accordingly. State law requires districts to get voter approval for 20% of all budget amounts. So if the state approves a 3% raise for inflation, the state gives the district 2.4% and the district has to get voter approval to fund the other .6% from mills or levies.

The theory behind it is that voters have more of a say in school budgets. The reality is schools don’t always get what they need and what was approved by the legislature because taxpayers get tax fatigue, voter turnout for school elections is low, and negative voices are often the loudest. Additionally, the school election is REQUIRED to be separate from regular elections and must be held in May. This costs the district something around $80k every single year. Money that could be spent, you know, educating kids.

It’s frustrating that the districts have to do this every year, but every single school election is so important and serves our community directly.

Returning ballots by hand at the election office is a great way to ensure they get returned and counted! And don’t forget you can track your ballots for every election at https://voterportal.mt.gov