Kalispell mayor calls on Legislature to return power to municipalities

Ahead of the 2025 legislative session in Helena, Kalispell Mayor Mark Johnson said he wants to see authority given back to the cities and out of the hands of “the big government Marxists sitting in Helena.”  

“It’s an insidious cancer, taking away local governments’ ability, local citizens’ ability to craft their future at the community level,” Johnson said during Monday’s Kalispell City Council work session. “All hail [Gov. Greg Gianforte], is what we are looking to.” 

Johnson emphasized the need for legislation giving municipalities the ability to make decisions for the communities they serve, not the state Legislature.   

Johnson’s remarks on Nov. 25 came as he and the rest of Council prepared to determine the city’s legislative priorities for the 2025 session. Council typically adopts priorities to lobby for at the state Legislature ahead of each session.  

As part of the discussion, Council reviewed the city’s priority list for the 2023 session. It will vote to adopt the priorities for 2025 at a later date. 

The priorities seem likely to remain the same. They included advocating for funding for public infrastructure, affordable housing, expanded use of tax increment financing and a voter approved resort tax. Council also agreed that legislation promoting mental and behavioral health initiatives should be prioritized.  

Johnson said that the Legislature has failed to effectively build affordable housing by putting the responsibility to do so in the hands of counties, ignoring that its an effort better led by municipalities. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines affordable housing as housing where the occupant pays 30% or less of their gross income on housing.  

“In my opinion, Flathead County is worthless,” Johnson said about its role in tackling the housing crunch.  

City Councilor Chad Graham agreed that focusing on high-density development within the city is more effective at creating affordable housing than building on larger parcels sold outside of city boundaries.  

Johnson also slammed Senate Bill 382, known as the Montana Land Use Planning Act, which was signed by Gianforte in 2023 along with several other pro-construction bills aiming to expand the state’s housing supply and promote housing affordability. 

The bill requires the city to adopt a new land use plan that calls for significant public input. However, it would limit public input and Council input on site-specific projects, shifting authorization to the city’s Planning Department.   

“If you like being lazy 382 is a great thing,” Johnson said of the legislation. 

He predicted that House Bill 819 would likely die in the hands of the Flathead County commissioners. The law allocates funds for housing initiatives and low-interest loans to developers building rent-restricted apartments.   

Councilors also agreed that the community should have an opportunity to vote on a local option sales tax, otherwise known as a resort tax. Whitefish and Columbia Falls both adopted one, but Kalispell remains ineligible for the tax given its population size.  

As in neighboring towns, the tax would likely target certain aspects of business mainly used by tourists, shifting a portion of the burden of maintaining municipal infrastructure to them.  

“You have the entire population of Kalispell footing the bill for all the tourism,” Graham said.  

The city pays for the Montana League of Cities and Towns to represent its interest during the legislative session and inform Council on pending legislation. Annual dues amount to roughly $28,000, said City Manager Doug Russell. 

Johnson argued that the nonpartisan nonprofit has failed to effectively serve the city, because it must also represent other cities across the state.  

“There is no one size fits all and that’s the frustrating part,” he said. 

Russell, though, defended the organization as a boon for City Hall. He said it has been effective in keeping welcome pieces of legislation alive and in keeping tabs on the many bills flooding the Legislature each session.  

“Last session was a record number of bills, I expect the same this coming year,” Russell said. 

Council toyed with the idea of hiring a lobbyist to represent the city during legislative sessions, but Russell recommended that resources could be more effectively allocated elsewhere.  

Several other municipalities are hiring lobbyists to advocate for them during legislative sessions, including Bozeman, Belgrade, Butte, Billings and Missoula.  

Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and junderhill@dailyinterlake.com.