Hearing draws one speaker

By WILLIAM L. SPENCE

The Daily Inter Lake

Flathead County's preliminary $60.7 million budget attracted one speaker during Wednesday's public hearing on the proposal.

Jerry Nix, a former commercial developer who has been involved in the county's growth-planning efforts, chastised the commissioners for failing to provide adequate financial support for the growth-policy update.

The county had a local GIS consultant lined up to help provide some of the baseline maps and information needed for the new growth plan. The maps would have highlighted existing land uses in the valley.

However, Nix said the maps couldn't be completed because the county substantially reduced the consultant's hours.

"It's incomprehensible to me that the county can be serious about the growth policy if it doesn't step up and allocate the money needed for some of this baseline data," Nix said.

Several county department leaders attended Wednesday's hearing, but no one else spoke.

Commissioners Gary Hall and Joe Brenneman said they were pleased with the results of this budget process - particularly because, for the first time, it establishes a countywide capital improvement plan.

A couple of county departments had set up individual capital improvement plans. However, this budget allocates about $1.13 million for the capital needs for seven departments.

"We have almost seven mills going to the capital improvement plan," Brenneman noted. "I think this budget is fiscally responsible and makes sense."

In addition to the $1.13 million, the proposed budget includes $4.6 million in capital expenditures. More than 60 percent of that is for the county landfill, which is supported entirely through fee revenue.

The budget, which covers the period from July 1 through June 30, 2007, also includes the equivalent of 9.6 new full-time employees. Five of the positions will be funded with property-tax dollars, and the remainder through other revenue sources.

The total property-tax levy needed to support the proposed spending plan is 137.67 mills, up from 132.57 mills last year.

If everything else stayed the same, the 5 mill increase would add about $16 to a homeowner's tax bill for every $100,000 in market value of the home. However, the actual change in property tax depends on a variety of factors, including assessments, statutory tax rates and levies for other taxing jurisdictions.

The commissioners are scheduled to adopt the final budget Thursday, Sept. 14.