Kalispell begins discussions on $90M budget

On Monday, the Kalispell City Council will begin a series of budgeting sessions to hammer out nearly $90 million of finances for the coming fiscal year.

Kalispell’s FY19 budget adds several full-time and other contract employees to the payroll, directs funding toward major long-term infrastructure projects and ramps up support for city parks and programming.

A budget message from City Manager Doug Russell lays out some priorities that guided this year’s preliminary budgeting and put it into context relative to last year.

“The overall projections for the city are promising as we see continued development throughout town,” Russell wrote. “Continued planning and attention to the future will be important to manage municipal functions in this environment. Because of this, the budget was developed with the implementation of today’s projects, balanced with looking toward the future.”

A priority for this year’s budget is dedicating the necessary funds to the Westside Interceptor Project, which will construct new sewer lines up the western half of the city and accommodate new annexation and development. The project is projected to cost more than $10 million. It will be largely paid for through impact fees.

Another big-ticket item is the wastewater treatment plant’s biosolids program. The city is currently maxing out the amount of solid waste it is allowed to contribute to the facility, which is a byproduct of the treatment process.

“Ultimately, it appears that developing a compost facility is the most likely and dependable alternative,” the budget document reads. “This will be an area that is reviewed during budget meetings as we are recommending funding to be appropriated for the design of a composting facility in this year’s budget.”

The continued design and construction work on the new Glacier Rail Park and rerouting of the tracks that currently cross town continue to be big costs for the city as well.

In the next year or two the city hopes to take the current tracks through town out and replace them with a pedestrian and biking trail, completely transforming the central thoroughfare of downtown Kalispell. Components of that project continue to make up major cornerstones of the budget through different departments and funding mechanisms.

Since the city released the municipal airport from their control and handed its management over to a private user group, expenses for operating the facility have been removed from the budget document this year, representing a major change over years past.

The city hopes to add several full-time workers to this year’s payroll. One is a caretaker to work with the arborist position that was established last year.

The city also hopes to add an additional storm sewer operator who will split time between storm sewer work and regular sewer work.

Another additional operator is being requested to work in the streets department to aid in snow removal. An employee the department temporarily borrows from another department currently covers the route, and they would like a permanent fix to the issue. The operator would work on paving in the summer months.

The information services budget could be cushioned by an additional $30,000 that would be used for contract work to help with cabling projects, hardware preparation and software implementation.

The city continues to ramp up investment in its parks and programming. This year the city is planning for improvements to the Lawrence Park pavilion, thinning overgrowth and defining pathways in the recently acquired 15-acre parcel adjacent to Lawrence Park, enhanced spraying capabilities throughout the park system, playground improvements to Woodland Park and trail development design work for U.S. 93, a project that began last year.

Health insurance costs for the city are projected to decrease by about 1.3 percent next year, after they went up 1.8 percent last year and 7.3 percent two years ago.

The city is also working toward the goal of obtaining 20 percent reserves within the general fund. Each year it inches closer to that goal, and the proposed budget has reserves at 18.5 percent, up from 17.9 percent.

The largest budget belongs to the Public Works Department, which is recommended to receive 54.2 percent of all funds, or $48,376,534. Community Development comes in second, with a recommended budget of $17,265,754. That is 19.3 percent of the total budget.

The smallest department is that of Facilities Maintenance, which has a budget of $288,050, or 0.3 percent of the city’s total expenditures.

The attorney’s office is recommended for a 16.28 percent increase in general fund dollars. Last year, the department received $477,875, and this year Russell is recommending it receive $555,660.

According to the budget document, the increase is recommended because a survey of Montana’s cities showed that the caseload per city prosecutor in Kalispell was the highest in the state, and second highest for non-traffic offenses. More funds would help alleviate the situation.

All city employees are set to receive a 2.55 percent pay increase in the coming fiscal year, including police, fire and non-union employees.

The biggest slice of revenue for the city comes from property tax revenues, which are difficult to project precisely until the final valuations are released in August. The city projects how much they will get by reviewing new additions to county records and accounting for city annexations and property improvements that have taken place over the past year.

The Council will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday evening to go over the preliminary budget. The council has also reserved the chambers for Wednesday evening.

Monday night will be spent reviewing the general fund administrative departments, Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Building, Planning and Community Development and Parks and the Recreation Department.

On Tuesday, the schedule holds the Information Technology Department and Public Works.

The preliminary budget is available on the city’s website, at http://www.kalispell.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/95.

Reporter Peregrine Frissell can be reached at 758-4438 or pfrissell@dailyinterlake.com.