Missoula City, County Funnels Taxpayer Resources to Climate Smart Missoula in Questionable “Heat Data” Deal

Missoula County has announced a partnership with the City of Missoula and local nonprofit Climate Smart Missoula to conduct what they’re calling a “Heat Watch campaign”—but this project appears to be just the opening move in a much larger taxpayer-funded spending scheme.

Scheduled for Saturday, July 19th, the initiative will deploy volunteers to drive predetermined routes around Missoula County for three one-hour sessions, equipped with temperature and humidity sensors. While the county frames this as simply creating “detailed heat maps showing where extreme temperatures hit hardest,” the real agenda becomes clear in their own words: they want to “identify priority areas and target investments in mitigation measures like urban forestry and improvements to the built environment.”

This isn’t about collecting data—it’s about manufacturing justification for a massive climate spending program that could cost taxpayers millions.

The Real Agenda Revealed

According to previous reporting on the project, the City wants to know where heat islands exist and which ones impact so-called “vulnerable populations,” a synonym for “taxpayer exploitable populations” who can only be saved by government spending. And here’s the critical part they’re not emphasizing: this data will be used to “target investments” in expensive mitigation projects.

The heat mapping campaign is essentially a taxpayer-funded feasibility study designed to create the rationale for significant future spending on climate initiatives. The city and county are funneling resources to Climate Smart Missoula to produce the “evidence” they need to justify what could be millions in additional expenditures on urban forestry programs and infrastructure modifications.

This represents a troubling pattern where local government creates the pretext for expanded spending by first funding studies that will inevitably recommend exactly the programs they wanted to implement anyway.

Following the Money Trail

The financial arrangements raise serious red flags about this spending pipeline:

The Seed Funding: While the county has disclosed receiving a $10,000 grant from the North Carolina-based Museum of Life and Sciences, this outside funding raises questions about who’s really driving Missoula’s climate agenda. Why is an out-of-state organization funding local policy initiatives?

Hidden Costs: The $10,000 grant likely covers only part of the project costs. How much additional taxpayer money is the city and county contributing to this partnership with Climate Smart Missoula?

The Real Bill: The heat mapping is just the beginning. The “targeted investments” that will follow could easily cost millions—money the county apparently doesn’t have.

Questionable Timing

The timing of this spending scheme is particularly tone-deaf. Just this past March, Missoula’s Mayor cited a $4 million budget deficit, yet the city is moving forward with funding climate projects that will inevitably lead to requests for much larger expenditures.

While city officials claim budget constraints prevent them from adequately funding basic services, they’re apparently finding money to pay nonprofits to build the case for expensive climate initiatives.

The Nonprofit Pipeline

This partnership exemplifies how local government increasingly funnels taxpayer resources through unaccountable nonprofit organizations. Climate Smart Missoula gets paid to conduct a study that will recommend spending more taxpayer money—much of which could flow back through similar nonprofit partnerships.

It’s a self-perpetuating system where taxpayers fund the research that justifies more taxpayer funding, with nonprofits serving as intermediaries who benefit from both ends of the transaction.

What This Really Costs Taxpayers

Beyond the immediate costs of the heat mapping project, taxpayers should understand they’re potentially funding:

• The initial “data collection” through Climate Smart Missoula
• Future consulting contracts to analyze and interpret the data
• The inevitable “targeted investments” in urban forestry and infrastructure
• Ongoing maintenance and expansion of whatever programs get implemented
• Additional studies to measure the “effectiveness” of the interventions

Each phase creates justification for the next, building a spending pipeline that could persist for years.

Demanding Real Accountability

Before this spending scheme advances any further, county commissioners must provide:

• Complete financial disclosure of all costs associated with the current project
• Detailed projections of the “targeted investments” this data will be used to justify
• Clear limits on future spending commitments based on this study’s recommendations
• Justification for why existing data sources cannot provide adequate information
• Transparent reporting on Climate Smart Missoula’s track record with previous county contracts

Missoula County residents deserve to know the full scope and cost of what they’re being asked to fund. This heat mapping project isn’t about collecting temperature data—it’s about building the foundation for a multi-million dollar climate spending program at a time when the city claims it can’t afford basic services.

Taxpayers should demand answers before their money disappears into another government spending pipeline disguised as environmental protection.