Whitefish City Council approves $49.3M preliminary budget
The Whitefish City Council approved the preliminary fiscal year 2024 budget at its meeting in June after two work sessions to review and discuss it.
Council also set the final public hearing on the final budget for Aug. 21.
For now, the total appropriated budget for fiscal 2024 is $49.3 million. Compared to the prior fiscal year, fiscal 2024 expenditures are expected to decrease $3.7 million, or about 8%.
Whitefish City Manager Dana Smith told council this is a reappraisal year and the city will not receive its official tax valuation until August when the final budget will be prepared. For the preliminary fiscal 2024 budget, the taxable value was estimated to grow by 10%.
Smith reported that over the past 10 years, Whitefish has had a decrease in taxes by about 0.6%. This year, however, there will be a property tax increase due to changes in property tax relief from resort tax, increasing costs and a reduction in revenues.
In an example provided in the budget report, a residential property with a market value of about $526,000 can expect to see an estimated annual increase of about $80 on the city’s portion of their property tax bill. The increase offsets the approximate $98 decrease provided last year but keeps the city’s portion of the bill about $18 less than fiscal 2022.
“Of course, if our valuations come back higher than the 10%, which was just an estimate … we will adjust the mills so the actual revenue generated would still be similar to what is proposed in this budget, so that impact would remain fairly similar,” Smith added.
Since the work sessions, a few changes were taken into account, making the fund balance for property tax supported funds about 35%. Capital spending in fiscal 2024 is predicted to decrease by $4.9 million compared to the prior year in part because construction for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Project is nearing completion.
In order to keep pay competitive and retain employees, city personnel would receive a pay increase of 5% — 3% is a cost of living increase and 2% for longevity. Additionally, the fiscal 2024 budget proposes two new hires: a school resource officer position, the cost of which would be shared with the school district, and a street maintenance position.
Smith explained that even though one’s taxable property tax value increases, it does not mean the taxes assessed on that property will increase by the same percentage.
She noted that the Montana Department of Revenue will host an educational property assessment town hall in Kalispell on July 12 along with virtual events.