Open space bonds: City, county still have majority of 2018 funds

While the money is dwindling from a taxpayer-funded bond for open space in Missoula County passed nearly two decades ago, there’s still a huge chunk of money left from a similar bond passed more recently.

In 2006, Missoula County voters approved a $10 million Open Space Bond. That money was split equally between the county and the city. The county’s $5 million has been spent or approved for projects, but the city has close to $100,000 left, plus another $600,000 for open space from a private donation.

In 2018, voters in the county approved a $15 million Open Space Bond, and the city and the county again split that funding up equally. Each government still has much more than half of their $7.5 million left to spend from that measure.

Green grass and yellow flowers coat the hillside beneath the old ski chairlift at Marshall Mountain in March. 

ANTONIO IBARRA OLIVARES, Missoulian

The county has about $6.95 million left from the 2018 bond, according to Kali Becher, Missoula County’s open lands project manager.

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