County admits 911 district process was flawed

Acknowledging flaws in the process of establishing an E-911 special district, the Flathead County commissioners voted 2-1 Wednesday to terminate the process.

The formal action puts the county back at square one in finding a way to pay for equipment upgrades for the consolidated 911 dispatch center. It also means the commissioners won’t be putting the measure on the ballot any time soon.

Commissioner Phil Mitchell voted against the termination, saying he had seen the resolution shortly before the vote and didn’t have ample time to consider it.

The commissioners unanimously voted to accept the results of the protests that killed the special district.

A total of 10,390 responses were received — 863 in support and 9,527 in opposition — for the proposed countywide tax district that was aimed at raising $1.9 million annually for dispatch center improvements and ongoing maintenance.

The protested assessment values totaled $374,535, well above the $199,199 assessment value threshold that was needed to halt the district creation.

“The bottom line is we didn’t meet the threshold so the project cannot move forward unless you put it out there” on a future election ballot, County Administrator Mike Pence told the commissioners.

Commissioner Pam Holmquist, who serves on the 911 administrative board, said she wants the process of looking at funding options to continue, but at a slower pace.

“The process is flawed. For me it became pretty obvious early on that it was not as equitable as we hoped,” she said about the proposed district. “We need to take another look at it. The last thing we want is a problem with a [911 dispatch] computer when they’re on a call.”

Mitchell reiterated his suggestion of putting together a committee to further study the costs and long-term options for dispatch center improvements. He said he doubted whether he would ever support the process that was used to create a special tax district.

“PR-wise it was not good. It was hard to understand,” Mitchell said. “The county and cities didn’t do a good job of explaining it. Most people are not necessarily opposed to 911 [but] they want the funding to be fair.”

Commissioner Gary Krueger said he’s not in favor of creating a study committee when the 911 board that’s already in place could address funding issues.

“As we look at the taxation of people, we look at fairness,” Krueger said. “I missed the ball. I didn’t take into proper account the size of certain businesses ... we didn’t build in a mechanism that readily took into account the size of a commercial operation.”

Much of the opposition to the special district centered around the way commercial businesses would have been taxed.

The maximum initial assessment would have been $25 per residential unit and up to $1,000 per commercial unit, depending what type of business it is.

There was also confusion over the notices of assessment sent to 65,985 property owners. The county followed a state law that stipulated the form must specify that if it is not returned, the owner’s lack of action must be construed as support of the creation of the special district.

Krueger said he gleaned some valuable information from protest letters, even though there was an “angry undertone” to some of the correspondence.

“We’ll double down and look some more,” Krueger said. He is concerned, however, that if the county keeps “kicking the can down the road,” eventually the county may have to ask voters for an even larger amount of funding than what was proposed through the special district.

During a short public-comment session before the commissioners began their discussion, former state Rep. Derek Skees, R-Whitefish, said the tax burden that would have been created through the special district would have created a hardship for many county residents. He also criticized the process.

“The protest form process is the single worst form of representative government,” Skees said. “The whole technique was designed to pass an initiative on confusion.”

He urged the commissioners to find ways to reduce spending by privatizing more facets of county government. That could free up the money needed to upgrade the 911 center, Skees added.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.