County budget includes slight increase in taxes

Without much discussion, the Flathead County commissioners on Thursday morning unanimously approved the final budget for Fiscal Year 2011.

The $81.3 million budget includes no cost-of-living raises for employees, but the commissioners voted to give Sheriff Mike Meehan a 1-cent raise to keep longevity increases for county employees according to state law.

County employees with at least five years of experience will get a .5-percent raise for every year they have served above five years. Sheriff’s deputies will get a 1-percent longevity increase for each year past the first year.

“Flathead County is one of the counties in Montana that is in good financial shape,” Commissioner Joe Brenneman said.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” Commissioner Dale Lauman said. “But we don’t know how long the tunnel is. It could be two or three years. We may have to do more belt tightening.”

Commissioner Jim Dupont thanked the county managers and employees. “They’ve bent over backwards,” he said, noting he hasn’t heard any complaints about the lack of cost-of-living increases.

“We’re an exception to the rule [among Montana counties] in having a sound budget to work off of,” he said.

The county does not anticipate additional employee layoffs this year after making eight over the past two years, County Administrator Mike Pence said previously.

The $81.3 million budget is a significant increase over the Fiscal Year 2010 budget of $72.8 million and the Fiscal Year 2009 budget of $72.1 million.

This is mainly due to capital improvement projects, Pence said. Funds for these projects have either been set aside in reserve funds previously or are coming from federal stimulus dollars, he said.

The county will reline a refuse cell at the landfill north of Kalispell in the spring, Solid Waste Operations Manager Jim Chilton said. The cost is $3 million, which includes excavation, relocation of existing soils and installation of the lining. It will be the third refuse cell the county has relined, Chilton said, with one more to go.

A couple of other big-ticket items include a records and elections preservation storage building and Eagle Transit bus barn annex, both on Willow Glen Drive. The bus barn annex recently was completed. The county currently is in the bid process for the records building. The metal building should be up by the end of the year, Pence said.

Other capital improvement projects in this year’s budget include a $1.8 million interior remodel of the courthouse, including a new elevator and windows; an $800,000 remodel of the Blue Building where the county Treasurer’s Office is located; and $300,000 for pavement and curbs on the east side of the Earl Bennett Building.

The new county property-tax mill levy is 145.62 mills compared to 135.75 mills in Fiscal Year 2010 and 145.96 mills in Fiscal Year 2009. The impact of the tax levy on a home with a $150,000 market value is an increase of $13 a year, Pence said. This compares to a $42 decrease for the same property the previous year.

Reporter Caleb Soptelean may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at csoptelean@dailyinterlake.com.