A taxing mess for Lincoln County

Boy, Lincoln County taxpayers have a mess on their hands, and there are some some difficult decisions ahead to deal with that mess.

Being overtaxed by the complicated and difficult-to-decipher mill-levy process is a taxpayer’s nightmare. Sure, taxpayers should keep track of their tax statements and be somewhat capable of detecting discrepancies, but in this case, errors were made at the macro level, and in the past year, Lincoln County levied $1.11 million in excess taxes.

Even worse, the total in overtaxation over the last three years has been $2.19 million, which is about 22 percent of the county’s total annual tax revenue.

And the mistakes came to light at a time when the county government was already strapped and looking for ways to reduce spending, leading to recent controversial decisions to eliminate the county superintendent of schools position and a justice of the peace position in Eureka at the end of this year.

Now there are discussions about whether the county sheriff’s office should assume duties of the Troy 911 dispatch center, which has benefited handsomely over the years from overtaxation. In 2000, voters approved a levy limited at 20 mills to support the dispatch center, but errors compounded the actual mill levy to 56.86 mills. The resulting additional revenue allowed the dispatch to renovate with upgrades at a cost of $160,000.

Sheriff Roby Bowe recently proposed consolidating the Troy dispatch with the county’s and upgrading the system partly for the purpose of long-term cost efficiencies.

There was an outpouring of support for retaining an autonomous Troy dispatch, but finding cost efficiencies is precisely what should be expected of county officials, even if they are difficult decisions.

Flathead County wrestled with a similar decision a few years back, with voters ultimately approving the consolidation of dispatch services for the county, Kalispell, Columbia Falls and Whitefish. 

Voters in the Troy Dispatch District will decide in either June or November of this year whether to dissolve the district, or continue paying $250,000 annually to support the center. The consolidation alternative would cost $253,000 up front, followed by an annual cost that is expected to be just $10,000.

Compensating for mistakes in local government can be tough. There just isn’t any extra money to go around. All Montana voters should be aware of that, and voting for qualified and competent public officials is a good place to start in avoiding mistakes. 

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.