County's proposed budget lowest in 3 years

The Flathead County commissioners will consider approving a $88.1 million preliminary budget at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 28, in the commissioner chambers on the third floor of the Courthouse.

This year’s budget is the lowest in three years, due largely to the completion of two major building projects — the South Campus Building and the County Attorney offices in the renovated old jail building. Last year’s budget was $92 million; two years ago it was $105.2 million.

The proposed budget adds the full-time equivalent of 1.5 new employees, including a half-time jail officer to handle the workload created by a jail expansion project that is wrapping up this month in the former County Attorney space in the Justice Center. A full-time environmental officer is being added to the Health Department to handle an increased workload, according to county Administrator Mike Pence.

The commissioners recently approved wage and salary increases totaling $184,354 for various county positions based on a wage and salary survey of most county positions recently completed with assistance from the county’s human resource director and a consulting firm, Pence said. A 1.3 percent cost-of-living increase for county employees also was approved. The county has 540 employees.

The preliminary budget enables the county to provide spending authority for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The final budget will be adopted in late August after valuation numbers are provided by the state Department of Revenue on or before Aug. 7.

“At that point we can finalize our revenue numbers and calculate mill levies for the property-tax asking,” Pence said.

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