Growing workforce drives bigger Whitefish budget

A growing workforce, along with increases in wages and health benefits for employees, is driving a bigger Whitefish budget for the coming fiscal year.

The city rolled out its preliminary budget last week, projecting a $42.63 million budget. That’s up roughly $1.6 million from last year’s budget.

Increased staffing reflects the signs of the time, so to speak, from a growing need to protect local governments from cyberterrorism to Whitefish’s longstanding affordable housing dilemma.

The city expects to add a full-time information technology administrator to address IT needs across all city departments. Previously the geographic information system coordinator has handled IT, but “GIS needs are extremely behind and valued by all departments,” City Manager Adam Hammatt noted in his budget message.

“With the recent cyberterrorism attack on Columbia Falls schools, we recognize the need to make improvements, set more robust security policies and protect the security of our vital information,” Hammatt said.

Whitefish is penciling a $90,200 annual salary for the IT administrator.

With the housing crunch growing to a critical level in the resort town, the city plans to hire a full-time housing program coordinator to assist in implementing strategies identified in the city’s strategic housing plan and addressing affordable workforce housing needs.

The housing coordinator position is budgeted to start Sept. 1 and cost $93,581 for the 10 months during the coming fiscal year. Funding is coming from the tax-increment finance and planning funds.

Other staff increases include a full-time police officer to fill a vacancy created by the Whitefish officer who will move to the Homeland Security office in Kalispell to work in internet crimes against children. The position will cost roughly $58,000 for fiscal 2019 and won’t start until Oct. 1.

A part-time customer-service clerk is proposed to help with the increasing demands on the cashier/information desk and the finance department. The city also is adding some additional seasonal staffing to help with aquatic invasive species inspection stations at Whitefish State Park and City Beach.

The budget calls for a 4 percent pay raise for non-union workers, to align with the same wage increase for union employees.

The budget is balanced with a property tax mill levy increase of 3.27 mills, or a 5.77 percent increase in property tax revenue. The tax mill levy increase for a home with a market value of $200,000 will cost the property owner about $8.10 annually.

“The increase in the mill levy is mostly in the permissive medical levy totaling 3 mills due to the increased costs of health insurance benefits,” Hammatt said, explaining that by increasing the permissive medical levy, a portion of the general property tax mill levy is available to help build cash reserves.

The value of a mill is projected to increase by 3.2 percent, to $25,589 per mill.

Whitefish continues to work toward growing its cash reserves for future needs. Reserves have been reduced in past years, and it will be important to build them up again in order to maintain service levels when the next recession hits, Hammatt said. He recommends establishing reserves in the 20 to 25 percent range or about $1.78 million to $2.2 million. This year’s cash reserve is proposed at 15.67 percent.

Hammatt identified three areas of need for the city: improving fund balance, better funding of capital projects (i.e. less debt); and covering unfunded liabilities.

On the revenue side of the budget, total revenues are 18 percent higher than last year, due largely to a $2 million loan through the State Revolving Fund to finance a portion of the new wastewater treatment facility design, engineering and equipment purchases.

Increases in utility fees will bring more money into city coffers, to the tune of $285,158 more in storm-water assessments; $393,785 more from water-service charges and $422,787 in increased wastewater services charges.

The new gas-tax allocation will bring in about $204,232.

The Whitefish City Council will hold its first budget presentation and discussion at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, in the council conference room at Whitefish City Hall.

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