Planner wants to shelve $325,000 study

Flathead County officials are considering how they might put an unexpected $325,000 back into the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Flathead County Planning Director BJ Grieve told county commissioners last week he didn’t want to spend $325,000 in his department’s capital improvement budget that was to pay for development of a water resource management plan in the coming year.

The money was to go toward hiring a consultant to prepare the water plan.

“I’m not willing to push forward with spending $325,000 simply because the money is there, particularly given the financial hardships of other departments and primarily of the taxpayers,” Grieve said. Grieve was hired as planning director in October 2010 after working in the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office since 2004.

And, Grieve acknowledged, Flathead County residents are not always receptive to such reports prepared by consultants.

Three years ago, the county spent several hundred thousand dollars to pay a consultant to develop a transportation plan. That plan was never adopted by the county and won’t be, Grieve said.

“Local groups had concerns about many parts of it,” he said.

To avoid another such situation, Grieve proposed shelving the water project.

He also suggested the county Planning Board re-examine other major studies that are part of the planning department’s capital improvement budget.

In 2007, when the county’s capital improvement plan was developed, things were booming in Flathead County, Grieve said. Several major plans were deemed necessary at that point and included in the long-term capital budget.

A great deal has changed in the last few years, which has made him question the need for some of those plans. Besides a water resource management plan, money is being set aside to pay for plans on county parks, public facilities, affordable housing and mineral resource extraction.

Grieve instead would like the Planning Board to develop a list of recommended plans. If the county commissioners sign off on particular plans, then, he said, “we can write the plans using local expertise, assisted by the planning department staff.”

He said he believes committees can be created of local people who are experts in certain areas. Planning Office employees can do whatever leg work is necessary for those committees and the process can be overseen by the Planning Board, he said.

“That process seems to work better in Flathead County than does hiring a consultant,” Grieve said.

If commissioners approve Grieve’s suggestion, “then we go forward,” he said.

The $325,000 could be designated for any part of the county’s budget, County Administrative Officer Mike Pence said. Most likely, if the money is reallocated, Pence said it would be directed to one-time expenses, since it’s not revenue that the county can count on in subsequent years.

Grieve said he’s taking “a lot of steps to save money” in his department. Much of the cost-cutting is in response to less demand for services since new construction and development projects have taken a nosedive in the last few years.

The Planning Office staff has been cut from 12 people to 5.5 employees. Three positions have been abandoned, with no plans to replace them, he said. Three others could be replaced if demand increases.

Grieve is optimistic that development in the county has reached its low point. “We’ve hit the bottom,” he said. But, he’s not so confident to predict how fast development might resume.

He wants the Pence and commissioners to reallocate the $325,000 for “more pressing matters and needs within the county.

“Times have changed,” Grieve said. “Priorities have changed. The financial position of the public has changed and government needs to be responsive to that and be better stewards of taxpayers’ dollars.”

County officials are reviewing proposed department budgets. While the new fiscal year begins July 1, the budget won’t be finalized until after the state completes tax assessments and provides county officials with firm dollar amounts of tax collections. That won’t happen until late August, Pence said.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by email at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.