Category: Personal Finance

Housing a ‘catastrophe’ for MSU students

By MICHELLE BURGER/Montana State News

Montana State University students are unable to find affordable housing in Bozeman that allows for a healthy school, work, and life balance.

Rising MSU enrollment and other community population growth have reduced the rental vacancy rate to virtually zero.

Kas Hamilton, an MSU student, said that “Finding affordable housing is hard, especially for students. Some places are less likely to rent to you because they have bad tenants in the past who were students….”

Kevin O’Brien, of Peak Property Management and MSU’s Good Neighbor Committee, said, “outgoing freshmen are often surprised at the competitive nature of the Bozeman rental market.” Continue reading “Housing a ‘catastrophe’ for MSU students” →

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Allegiant flyers help boost airport to the top

By JORDAN GARCEAU/Montana State News

Allegiant Airline has substantially increased the number of passengers served in Bozeman, helping Bozeman’s airport become the busiest in the state.

According to the Montana Department of Transportation, Bozeman’s Allegiant Airlines increased passengers from 3025 to 30,207 from 2008 to 2013. This jump is notable, considering the growth of the airline in Billings between the same years was only 37,237 to 41,924. Although Billings is considerably larger than Bozeman, Bozeman’s Allegiant passenger count is comparable.

This jump in Allegiant passengers happened simultaneously as Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport began it’s journey to growth. Bozeman currently has the busiest airport in the state.  In servicing 483,132 passengers in 2014, Bozeman surpassed the Logan International Airport of Billings by 63,289 passengers. Continue reading “Allegiant flyers help boost airport to the top” →

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Change in tip policy riles service workers

By LAUREN SHUN/Montana State News

A new tip policy adopted recently by the food service on the Montana State University campus, is creating a division between some employees and managers.

The new tip policy gathers the tips at the end of each business day, taxes them, and distributes the tips monthly among employees depending upon the amount of hours they worked.

This new system, although legal, is seen as unfair to some employees. The distribution of tips depending upon the amount of hours worked takes money away from others who work harder at customer service. Now that employees do not get tips daily, the motivation to provide good customer service could be affected. Continue reading “Change in tip policy riles service workers” →

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Equal pay icon stirs MSU crowd

By MORGAN SOLOMON/Montana State News

On Monday night Lilly Ledbetter spoke to a ballroom full of awe-stricken women speckled with men at Montana State University on her struggles and the accomplishments she has made in her effort to give women the same pay as men.

When Lilly Ledbetter was 40 years old, she got an anonymous letter on her desk at Goodyear Tire & Rubber that she was receiving thousands of dollars less per year than her male colleagues for doing the same type of work. After several years fighting a discrimination case against Goodyear, the Supreme Court reversed the decision made by the federal court to award her $3.8 million.

“I was devastated. It wasn’t about the money. I thought about letting it go, but I couldn’t, it just wasn’t me,” said Ledbetter. Continue reading “Equal pay icon stirs MSU crowd” →

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Local shoppers hit by Target hackers

By KERRY BYRNES/Montana State News

Local shoppers have found themselves caught up in the hacking of personal information from credit card transactions at Target stores.

Last December, hackers gained unauthorized access to credit and debit card data and personal information for over 100 million Target shoppers nationwide. Bozeman resident Graham Kennedy said he’s more careful with finances after fraudulent charges related to the Target breach appeared on his bank statement.

“It did make me more conscious of checking my statements quite frequently, and to be much more careful with the usage of my card,” Kennedy said, adding that the fraudulent charges amounted to $82.78. Continue reading “Local shoppers hit by Target hackers” →

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