BACKGROUND Currently the standard prevailing rate of wages is required in public contracts for construction and nonconstruction services when the total cost of the contract is more than $25,000. (18-2-401, MCA) Competitive bidding is not required on municipal contracts unless the amount is in excess of $80,000. Smaller contracts that…
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BACKGROUND In an effort to make a community safe and visually pleasing, cities and towns must eradicate blight from old, uninhabitable buildings and remove junk and abandoned vehicles. These actions cost money that the cities and towns do not have. The cities and towns must rely on constrained general fund…
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BACKGROUND The public employee retirement system has suffered in the past from not being actuarially sound. Some public employee bargaining groups want to include factors such as overtime, insurance premium payments and other special benefits as part of the “total compensation” used in determining retirement benefits upon retirement. Adding these…
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BACKGROUND The Building Codes Division of the Montana Department of Labor approves the building codes for residential buildings that cities may adopt if the cities want to enforce and inspect construction of residential properties. (50-60-301(2), MCA) The Building Codes Division does not inspect or enforce building codes on structures with…
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