Taxes likely going up in Whitefish

The city of Whitefish will increase its workforce, give workers a 4.5-percent raise and increase property taxes in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2018.

Whitefish homeowners also will pay roughly $22 more in special assessments for street maintenance, lighting and parks to help fund the city’s capital improvement program. Commercial property owners would pay slightly more.

The proposed budget of $38.7 million in transfers and expenditures is about $12.6 million less than last year’s budget, largely due to the completion of the City Hall and parking structure projects, Whitefish City Manager Adam Hammatt said in his budget message.

A property tax mill levy increase of 8.24 mills is proposed. The mill value is projected to increase to $23.743 per mill in the coming fiscal year.

The mill levy increase is in response to a reduction in resort tax relief of 6.24 mills. Property owners last year received a one-time windfall when only one debt payment had to be made in 2016 for the Haskill Basin conservation easement, Finance Director Dana Smith explained.

The city began collecting a 3-percent resort tax in July 2015 — a 1 percent increase from 2 percent — to cover the cost of the easement. Because the city had only one bond payment in fiscal year 2016, the city rebated to property owners an additional $319,485.

“This year we don’t have that,” Smith said.

It’s difficult to know exactly how much more property owners in Whitefish will pay in taxes, Smith said, because it’s a tax reappraisal year. The new property appraisal numbers won’t be available until early August.

“We’re assuming we’ll have growth of about 8 percent in taxable value,” Smith said. “Some would be from new construction; some is the growth in property values.”

Two of the additional mills levied will go to the police department to cover the costs of a new vehicle and additional staffing.

“The Whitefish Police Department has seen a 40 percent increase in calls and if this keeps up additional full-time officers will be needed,” Hammatt stated. “Given the mill capacity, a referendum may be needed to fund these additional officers.”

Whitefish will add the equivalent of 3.2 employees over the coming year, boosting the workforce from 99.6 to 102.8 full-time equivalent employees.

A full-time long-range planner to handle the planning goals set by the City Council is one of the staff additions. That will cost about $84,000 annually but is expected to save the city nearly $150,000 a year because it won’t have to hire consultants to do the work. The planner position would be funded 80 percent from the tax-increment finance fund and 20 percent from the planning budget, and the position is expected to be cut once the tax-increment district sunsets.

The city plans to increase a part-time parking enforcement position to full time to handle the addition of the parking structure. A part-time fire department administrative assistant is being added because the department “desperately” needs administrative help, Hammatt said.

For seasonal hiring, the city is adding staff to handle aquatic invasive species boat inspections and will boost two seasonal parks employees to full time to cover the loss of the parks superintendent position.

City employees, including those belonging to the three unions serving city personnel, will receive a 4.5 percent pay increase. Last year city workers got a 3.8 percent raise.

As a way to better fund the city’s capital improvement program, the preliminary budget proposes increases in various assessments. The parks and greenway assessment would increase from $44.68 to $51.68 per household; the street maintenance assessment jumps from $119.38 to $133.18; and the street lighting assessment would increase from $11.99 to $13.09 per residential household. Commercial assessments would be about $3.65 more per lot annually for lighting.

Storm water rates will stay the same for another year.

Whitefish is budgeting $7.5 million in capital improvements for fiscal year 2018, a substantial decrease now that the City Hall and parking facility are complete.

The city intends to increase its cash reserve fund to about 12.1 percent. That’s the emergency fund for unexpected future expenses.

“The goal of the city is to increase cash reserves against a future day of need,” Hammatt said. “In past years our reserves have been reduced and it will be important to build them back up if we are to maintain service levels during the next recession.”

Hammatt wants to establish reserves in the 20 to 25 percent range, giving the city a stash of $1.7 million to $2.2 million.

The Whitefish City Council will hold budget work sessions May 30 and June 12, and has scheduled a preliminary budget hearing for June 19 at the council’s regularly scheduled meeting.

For more information, visit http://www.cityofwhitefish.org/mayor-and-city-council/contact-mayor-and-council.php.

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