City closes in on budget

The city of Kalispell's agonizing budget-balancing act is almost over.

City council members appeared happy Monday with a proposed balanced general fund budget of $10.654 million for fiscal 2008-09.

"We're a heck of a lot better than we were," Council Member Bob Hafferman said.

The council scheduled a vote next Monday on the budget.

The latest proposal calls for trimming five staff positions and cuts back on hours for a planner and GPS employee. It also eliminates several seasonal Parks and Recreation workers' slots.

Here is how the full-time job-cuts situation currently stands:

. A municipal court clerk job won't be eliminated as originally planned.

. The parks department's receptionist job plus a recreation coordinator job have been eliminated.

. The planning department code enforcement officer job has been eliminated.

. Two fire prevention specialist positions in the fire department have been removed with one individual transferred to a firefighter's slot and the other transferred to the building department.

The council and the city staff have wrestled with this budget for about three months, with the council rejecting several staff proposals until Monday evening's workshop.

Last week, the general fund proposal called for $10.78 million in expenses. But that still was about $167,000 more than predicted revenue for 2008-09.

The $167,000 could have come from the city's cash reserves, dropping that fund from roughly $473,000 to almost $306,000. However, the rule of thumb for a city of Kalispell's size calls for cash reserves of more than $1 million to be considered financially solid.

The latest proposed general fund budget calls for the city's cash reserves to remain steady at $473,000 through 2008-09.

But the proposed budget also has no contingency funds for unexpected major expenses.

"Members of the community are going to see a reduction in service, especially in inspections of businesses," council member Jim Atkinson said.

Mayor Pam Kennedy was disappointed by the elimination of the code enforcement inspector and the fire prevention posts, contending these are important positions to head off future troubles. She wants the city to fill those jobs in the future when money becomes available.

The general fund pays for much of the everyday operation and administration of the city. About 80 percent of the general fund pays for firefighters, police officers and parks employees, plus some planning department, municipal court and city attorney's workers, as well as the council members' salaries.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com