F Y I

FYI

The population of Yellowstone County is approx 143,000 people.

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Yellowstone County has 430 Full time employees.

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The County's budget for 2010 is $81,973,948 (Yes, nearly 82 million bucks)

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The overall taxes budget for 2010 is $33,630,000 - which is up from $32,560,000 for 2009

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What is the signifigance of these numbers?

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It's to point out that Yellowstone County is a pretty good sized 'business' that is owned by you, the taxpayers.

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The way you appoint your 'managers' is at the ballot box.

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We have seen turnouts as low as 10% for off-year elections, and in those years, your elected officials were chosen by 1 person out of 10.

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So please - make sure you vote this year - the primary ballots are mailing out May 10th, and election day is June 8th.

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Given that the polling places have been consolidated, I expect a lot of mail-in ballots.

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There are good, conservative challengers this election cycle, so you have the opportunity to make your votes count.