Kalispell council on track to approve $104M budget
Kalispell City Hall is seen at the corner of First Avenue East and Second Street East in this July 21, 2021, file photo. (Chad Sokol/Daily Inter Lake)
The Kalispell City Council is poised to approve its annual budget for fiscal year 2021-22 at Monday's meeting.
In May, the city produced a preliminary budget totaling $103.96 million for the fiscal year that started in July.
The council waited to approve the proposed budget until it received updated property tax valuations from the state, which came in this month. The updated numbers will be used to budget for the city's departments and organizations.
The proposed budget is a notable increase over last fiscal year's budget of $82.5 million.
City staff have attributed that jump to fallout from the pandemic and personnel increases in some city departments, including, Public Works, Planning and Building, Parks and Recreation, and the police and fire departments. The need for additional staff can be attributed in some cases to recent population growth in the city.
According to Census figures released last week, Flathead County as a whole saw a 15% population increase over the past decade.
If the council reaches consensus on the proposed amounts, the city will adopt the approximately $104 million budget for operations lasting until this time next year. If there are discrepancies during the approval process, individual department budgets could come back before the council at its subsequent meeting on Sept. 7.
THE COUNCIL also will consider two development proposals on Monday evening.
One is a request for final plat approval of a subdivision that was first approved in 2003.
Sands Surveying is requesting final plat approval for West View Estates Phase 5. The 22-lot residential subdivision is located on 6.2 acres located south of the intersection of Stillwater and Taelor roads.
Finally, there's a final plat request for Lot 1 of the Village Heights Professional Center, a two-lot commercial subdivision located at 105 Village Loop. The 1.43-acre property is located within the RA-2 (residential apartment/office) zone.
WGM Group applied for final plat approval from the city on behalf of PTA Development LLC.
The council originally approved the preliminary plat for the subdivision, with 11 conditions, in April 2018. A two-year extension was granted in March of this year and now "all of the conditions have been met or otherwise adequately addressed," according to council meeting documents.
The council meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at Kalispell City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.
Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 406-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.