Kalispell OKs health funding increase despite concerns

The Kalispell City Council on Tuesday approved an increased mill levy for the Flathead City-County Health Department’s after mulling the request over several weeks.

The approval of an increase from 4.9 to 5.99 mills equates to $52,000 for the city of Kalispell.

After tabling the resolution at the prior meeting and holding a work session on the issue, council members raised a number of additional questions about the mill levy at the Tuesday meeting, including the state of the health department’s current cash reserve and the potential impact of denying the request. They learned the department’s cash reserve currently has $790,000 remaining.

Council member Rod Kuntz made a motion to amend the resolution to keep the mill levy at last year’s 4.9 mills. “I do believe in promoting the general welfare, but we were led to believe there were going to be no substantial changes, and yet we’ve got an increase in mill value and we still see an increase in the mills that are requesting to be levied.”

Several council members debated at length the level of scrutiny appropriate for the council to exercise over the health department’s budget, the balance between providing services to citizens and raising taxes and the best process for evaluating these issues in the future. Mayor Mark Johnson pointed out, “what it comes down to is a $52,000 ask of the city of Kalispell.”

The amended motion ultimately failed to pass and the council proceeded to approve the mill increase to 5.99 mills.

Public Health Officer Hillary Hanson with the Flathead County Health Board provided additional clarification to the Inter Lake about the increased mill levy after the meeting. She explained the increase seemed “dramatic” outside of its historical context. While the 2019 amount of 4.9 mills was the lowest the department requested in recent years, the three years prior to that saw mill levies at 5.7, 6.63 and 6.57. Health Board Chairman David Myerowitz told the Inter Lake in the three years he has served as chairman, he “never heard a complaint” about the higher amounts.

Hanson also shed light on the confusion over the health department’s cash reserve. “Tax funding for us only comes on a semi-annual basis,” she explained, so the department needs to shore up reserves to cover costs during months when they aren’t receiving funding. Hanson said she felt this awareness might have been missing from the council’s discussion of the Flathead City-County Health Department’s contributions to covering costs.

Hanson and Myerowitz both expressed there were new questions in the meeting they were not given an opportunity to address and emphasized the large number of health services the department provides to the city of Kalispell. Hanson stressed her commitment is to “ensuring we’re collaborating on all things.”

Unrelated to the health mill levy, the council also passed a number of resolutions. The council approved a “housekeeping measure” to transfer the trustee of the Immanuel Lutheran Corporation’s bonds, and approved a zoning change request for the Town Pump location at 2910 U.S. 93 South after a presentation about proposed changes and questions about the company’s plans for the future development there. The council also approved a resolution to establish school zones, speed limits and times near Kalispell Middle School, Edgerton Elementary School and the Linderman Alternative School after a discussion about drivers potentially missing the proposed signs.

Beyond these resolutions, the council approved the confirmation of Wesley Barr as a firefighter for the city of Kalispell and held a public hearing about the wastewater treatment facility plan that received no public comments.

Council member Tim Kluesner also addressed the dissolution of the Citizens for a Better Flathead organization and advertised the city’s Solid Waste District is now seeking a replacement to take over the Waste Not recycling program.

The Kalispell council will meet in a work session at 7 p.m. Sept. 9 in the City Council Chambers, 201 First Ave. E.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at bserbin@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.