911 bond narrowly ahead

By JOHN STANG/Daily Inter Lake

The fate of a proposed Flathead County consolidated 911 dispatch center is teetering between a "go" and a "no-go."

The 911 bond issue led by 236 votes Wednesday morning - with only 400 provisional ballots not yet counted.

That 911 bond trailed most of Tuesday until the first roughly 15,200 ballots were counted late Tuesday evening - rallying the "yes" votes from a major deficit to a small lead.

Meanwhile, it was no dice for two other proposed money issues taken to Flathead County and Kalispell voters on Tuesday.

County voters turned thumbs down on taxing themselves to buy or set aside open space to help preserve wildlife and water quality.

A proposed Kalispell parks operations-and-maintenance tax also went down to defeat.

As of Wednesday, county voters narrowly supported by 20,237 yes votes to 20,031 no votes a bond issue of up to $6.9 million to merge the county's four emergency dispatch centers into a new facility in northwest Kalispell.

That could translate to a $12.48 annual increase in property taxes on a $200,000 house.

"We thought we had the people of Flathead convinced that we needed an upgraded 911 center," said Fred Leistiko, chairman of the Flathead City-County 911 Administrative Board prior to the absentee ballots rallying the "yes" votes at about midnight.

If the referendum ultimately fails with the final absentee ballots, the 911 board's Plan B is to cram a few million dollars worth of updated equipment for a consolidated dispatch center into the basement of the Flathead County Justice Center in Kalispell.

"That's just not a good idea. But I don't know what other choice we [would] have," Leistiko said.

Meanwhile, voters rejected 22,566 to 17,756 a bond issue to raise $10 million for Flathead County to buy development rights, conservation easements or property from willing landowners to conserve farms and ranches, acquire waterfront and recreational lands, protect clean water and conserve wildlife habitat.

If passed, that would have translated to an annual property tax increase of $18.30 for a $200,000 home.

Finally, Kalispell voters turned down a proposed parks operations-and-maintenance tax 4,736 to 3,288.

This was an advisory vote to guide the Kalispell City Council on how it wants to approach the proposed tax - likely at a meeting later this month..

The council's choices are to follow the voters' decision to the letter or still pursue it, even though the voters rejected the parks tax.

If approved, the proposed tax would have translated to $38.50 a year for 7,000-square-foot lot or $22 a year for a 4,000-square-foot lot.

"That was something we desperately needed and was essential for the future of the city's park system," Kalispell City Parks Director Mike Baker said.

"We've got to go back to the drawing table and come up with something that is suitable to the taxpayers and to the city department," he said.

Here is a breakdown of the individual ballot issues:

911 center bond

The $6.9 million bond would be part of a bigger $12.6 million picture.

The 911 board's master plan is to:

? Build a new $6.9 million center in northwest Kalispell to handle current and future 911 needs. It is also supposed to the new emergency operations headquarters for all of Flathead County and to be the depot for the county's emergency vans and trailers as well as a significant amount of other emergency equipment.

? Overhaul and update the county's entire emergency communications system from hand-held radios to mountaintop towers.

The 911 board has $5.239 million in state and federal grants earmarked for upgraded dispatch and countywide radio equipment, plus another $491,000 set aside.

Right now, there are four emergency dispatch centers in Flathead County.

The four centers have problems coordinating calls with the Flathead's hodgepodge of jurisdictions and levels of service.

Conservation bond

The bond request was placed on the ballot by Flathead County commissioners at the request of the Flathead Land Trust and Trust for Public Land.

If the measure had passed, Flathead County would have drawn up guidelines and worked with a citizen advisory group on how to spend the money.

Kalispell parks tax

The proposed tax was expected to raise roughly $540,000 a year and remove park expenses from the city's general fund.

The creation of a parks maintenance district was a proposed solution to eliminate future general fund woes by setting up a separate revenue stream for parks operations and maintenance.