Major Economic Events of 2019: Another Year of Growth.

AuthorBarkey, Patrick M.

2019 was a year of continued respectable growth for the Montana economy overall, but behind that big story were a number of significant individual stories that have had important impacts in many communities:

* The Montana state treasury enjoyed a second straight strong revenue year, with income tax collections growing by $131.2 million in fiscal 2019 over strong growth the previous year. General fund revenue growth was 7 percent.

* After bottoming out in 48th place among states ranked by per capita income in the year 2000, Montana has quietly improved its standing relative to other states. Census data show that Montana per capita income of $47,538 in 2018 ranked 35th among other states and the District of Columbia, ahead of Utah (39th), Arizona (43rd) and New Mexico (49th).

* Newly released economic data on personal income for Montana counties show that Gallatin County (Bozeman) is now the second largest county in the state by this measure, ahead of Missoula. Yellowstone County, at $8.381 billion in 2018, remains the states largest county economy, followed by Gallatin ($6.123 billion) and Missoula ($5.879billion).

* The owner of the state's largest coal mine filed for bankruptcy in May, and subsequently sold its Spring Creek mine to Navajo Transitional Energy Company in the fall. After some turbulence relating to the legal status of its permit and the tribe's immunity to state environmental regulations, the mine resumed operations in October.

* Kalispell Regional Healthcare System settled a whistleblower case brought by a former executive for $24 million that alleged that it broke federal law by paying kickbacks for referrals in previous years. After several years of expansion and rapid growth, the region's health care economy managed only very modest growth in...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT