by Evelyn Pyburn
The one thing that City, County and SD2 officials all agree about is that the community is facing some really big needs in the near future – needs that taxpayers are going to be called upon to finance. And there is a sense of “urgency” about them all.
Without addressing all these needs, said City Administrator Chris Kukulski, “We can’t have a thriving community economically.” He was referencing many subjects that were discussed during the joint meeting of the three governmental entities last Thursday at the Lincoln Center in Billings. “They are all priorities,” he said.
Kukulski said that he believes the leadership in all three arenas “are doing a poor job of communicating what we need.”
For the school district the concern is about rebuilding infrastructure and updating. For the city it’s about housing and reinstating the park levy and meeting priorities set in 2022 by the city council. For the County it’s about expanding jail capacity or in other ways addressing issues of the criminal justice system.