C. Falls nears final budget decision

Northwest Montana News Network

The Columbia Falls City Council Monday voted 6-1 to use all available property-tax mills to fund its budget.

Final approval will mean about a $25 increase to most citizens tax bills. Council member Dave Petersen voted against the resolution.

The total budget increased by 3.84 percent from 199.793 mills to 207.457 mills. City staffers presented the council with a sample taxpayer with a house at a $250,000 market value. That taxpayer would see a $25 increase in taxes.

But Petersen said he was uncomfortable raising taxes even that much.

"I'm not comfortable saying I'm willing to raise taxes the maximum amount," he said after the vote.

He acknowledged that the city may need that extra money to operate, saying "I'm not suggesting we have an overzealous budget."

City Manager Bill Shaw recommended the council approve the budget and consider future impacts.

"We need to collect all the mills [available]," he said. "The extra money we made from last year to this, we'll not see that next year," he said.

Shaw reminded the council that the decisions made in the next three to four years impact all the way to the 2012-13 budget.

The city's tax value increased by about 2 percent for this year's budget. Previous construction work is now just making its way onto the tax rolls. Now that building has slowed, city staffers expect future budgets to be much tighter.

Other council members seemed to agree with the staff recommendation about future projects.

Council member Don Barnhart said this year's budget will affect the next four to five years.

"Columbia Falls is proactive," he said. "We're not going to put off expenditures until they create real hardships to the community."

Long-term planning in the budget shows $100,000 for wiring project at City Hall, improvements to the Pit-to-Park project, as well as work at other city parks and a possible remodeling of the police department.

"We have obligations that extend well beyond this year," said Shaw.

The council still has to approve the specific budget, which outlines how the money will be spent in each department.

That will come at a special meeting on Sept. 28 starting at 7 p.m. The public will have a chance to comment on the budget at that meeting.

In most years, the city has adopted a budget in early summer, but this year's budget was delayed while the city waited on tax value information from the state Department of Revenue.