Telling the Counties’ Story

Did you know that?

Counties collect all of your property taxes, invest them, and distribute them to schools, cities, towns and every special district. They collect any delinquent taxes for all of these entities.

Counties maintain all of your land records and property transactions. 

They record vital statistics such as births, deaths and marriages.

Counties license your motor vehicles and boats.

Some counties take out your garbage and bury it. 

Some counties provide recycling services.

Counties build, maintain and plow your roads and bridges.

Counties immunize your children, provide home health care for senior citizens and those at risk. They provide nursing homes for the aged and health care clinics for the needy.

Counties contribute to your libraries and senior citizen centers. They provide transportation assistance to senior citizens and handicapped.

Counties provide law enforcement, a justice court system, and a district court system. They call all juries, and provide for the defense of the indigent. They prosecute all felonies, and when criminals are found guilty, they provide detention centers to keep them off the streets.

Counties provide emergency dispatch services for fire, law enforcement and ambulances.

They provide search and rescue operations when people are lost or in danger.

Many counties provide ambulance services when a private provider is not available.

Counties provide fairgrounds and parks for children to play in, weed control, and animal control.

Counties provide fire protection and preparation and response to disasters such as fires, floods and earthquakes.

Counties provide land use planning and extension services such as 4-H and agricultural assistance.

Counties sponsor economic development loans to expand the economy.

The following list was reprinted with the permission of Montana Association of Counties News June/July 1999 Newsletter. We are in hopes that this list will assist you in writing your county narrative.

We encourage each to write a county narrative to help explain to their legislators and constituents to role of the county.  A sample form is below.

County Narrative

County____________________________________

County governments are the quiet, consistent providers of essential services which are often taken for granted and go unnoticed until these services are reduced or eliminated. Please use the above talking points as a guide for your counties narrative. Please include other programs that your county provides, also list services that have been eliminated and why.