Slight property tax decrease part of $87M budget

The Kalispell City Council approved an $87 million budget for the coming year at a virtual meeting held Wednesday that will slightly reduce property taxes.

The council meeting was rescheduled from Monday after city staff reportedly heard unmasked protesters would show up for the meeting at the City Council Chambers in defiance of Gov. Steve Bullock’s directive requiring face coverings in public places. The Aug. 4 meeting also was delayed and moved to a virtual format due to the presence of dozens of mask-less meeting attendees. The council initially had planned on giving the public a “second chance” to attend in-person while abiding by mask covering guidelines, but on Monday evening the council opted to meet remotely instead.

The upcoming city council work session scheduled for Monday, Aug. 31 also will be conducted online.

During the virtual meeting Wednesday, the council went over a number of individual budget items and ultimately approved the final budget, which is about $7 million more than the budget for the previous year.

Highlights of this year’s budget include a mill levy reduction, the addition of two Fire Department staff members, and funding to clean up damage from a high wind event in spring 2020.

The annual mill levy for 2020 is almost 4 mills lower than last year. This reduction will provide about a 2% decrease in property taxes, according to City Manager Doug Russell.

Russell also pointed out funding for the Kalispell Core area trail has been buffeted by emergency support from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, so the project is still on track to hit its original funding benchmarks.

One budget item that hasn’t changed this year is the permissive levy for the Flathead City-County Health Department, which is staying steady at 5.99 mills, consistent with the 2019 mill request from the Health Department.

Russell said this year’s funding is “overall, a very good budgetary situation.”

In other business, the council approved three resolutions related to development in the city.

One was a preliminary plat extension for Silverbrook Phase 2, a 167-acre property at the southwest corner of the intersection of U.S. 93 North and Church Drive. The project is part of a larger 325-acre development, and Phase 2 includes 197 single-family lots, 90 townhouse lots and 18 commercial lots. The preliminary plat for the development is set to expire on Sept. 17. Under city subdivision regulations, developers are allowed to apply for two two-year preliminary plat extensions.

The council also approved a final plat and subdivision improvement agreement for Northland Phase 5A and 5B, a 25.5-acre project along the western boundary of Northland Drive. The project includes a total of 90 residential lots—70 single-family units and 20 townhouses. The subdivision improvement agreement submitted by Bridgeland Development, LLP, includes bonding for $109,358.25, or 125% of the estimated remaining costs for unfinished improvements.

Additionally, the council OK’d a final plat request for a Resubdivision Plat of Lot 4 of Glacier Rail Park. KLJ Engineering submitted a request on behalf of the Flathead County Economic Development Authority to amend the plat of Glacier Rail Park, Lot 4, the plat subdividing Lot 4 of the Glacier Rail Park into two parcels. This request, submitted by KLJ Engineering on behalf of the Flathead County Economic Development Authority, would amend the plat subdividing Lot 4 of the Glacier Rail Park into two parcels.

The final item approved by the council Wednesday was a resolution revising the city’s process for setting speed limits. The original ordinance for establishing speed limits, first put into place in 1947, gave the Kalispell Police Chief and the City Council the authority to set speed limits.

The new process will base speed limits on traffic studies, per the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices adopted by the Montana Department of Transportation.

Councilors Sid Daoud and Chad Graham voted against the measure because they felt it takes municipal authority away from local elected officials, but the resolution passed nonetheless.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.