Commissioners approve $61 million budget

The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead County commissioners unanimously approved a $60.92 million budget Thursday, with a property-tax levy of 137.656 mills.

The mill levy was unchanged from what was announced prior to a Sept. 6 public hearing.

The budget itself increased slightly, after the commissioners agreed to implement a series of wage increases for almost two dozen job categories, based on the results of a wage survey that was conducted earlier this year.

The recommended pay raises, which take effect in January, will cost about $170,000 this year.

This year's property-tax levy is up about 5 mills, or 3.8 percent, from last year.

If everything else stayed the same, the increase would add about $16 to a homeowner's tax bill for every $100,000 in market value of his 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.