Council OKs one of two tax-levy increases

Amid calls for honesty in assigning budget costs to the proper departments, and a counter-defense for good fiscal management, Kalispell City Council members approved five out of six budget resolutions Monday night.

Two of Monday's proposed budget amendments called for rate increases; one passed and the other didn't.

An urban forestry levy got the thumbs-up, increasing taxes collected on property in the city in order to fight Dutch elm disease.

Of the 365 American elms in the city, interim City Manager Myrt Webb told the council, 55 need to be taken down this year.

Costs to dispose of infected trees are higher than ordinary tree removal - around $350 a tree - because the trees are ground in a chipper and used as biofuel to be sure the disease does not spread to healthy trees, he said.

The increase amounts to $2.52 a year on a 7,000-square-foot lot or $3.60 a year on a 10,000-square-foot lot. It's the first increase since the forestry levy was established.

Council members Bob Hafferman and Tim Kluesner claimed City Parks and Recreation salaries were being charged off to this account unfairly, with more money coming from the fund than staff puts time into the program. Still, both joined the unanimous vote in favor of the levy.

A proposed increase in the solid waste levy did not fare as well.

Webb and Public Works Director Jim Hansz asked for 25 cents a month, or $3 a year more, to help keep up with rising costs of fuel, spare parts and work that gets done at the solid waste plant.

Again, Kluesner noted 25 percent of Hansz' salary is charged to solid waste and questioned whether a quarter of his time is spent on solid waste matters. He had similar doubts about the deputy director's salary. He also wanted a written explanation for the public before the meeting, even though he appreciated Hansz' explanation at the meeting.

"If we're told on the night of the vote, that's too late," Kluesner said. "I can't support this We need to be honest with ourselves and put the salaries where the salaries belong."

Hafferman objected to the distribution of salaries between office staff and garbage collectors.

After council member Randy Kenyon confirmed that this is a self-supporting enterprise fund and Hank Olson's motion to table the vote pending further information failed, council member Jim Atkinson defended the proposal.

"To clarify Mr. Hafferman's statement," he asked Hansz, "Has there been an increase every year?"

"No, sir," Hansz replied. "There was an increase last year, but not before that."

Atkinson continued with a defense of the salary funding, noting that taking the director's salary partially from an enterprise fund helps relieve pressure on the stressed general fund.

"We do it out of expediency," he said. It may appear as a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul to balance the budget, but "you have to look at it in the management mode. We see that we do need personnel It's not fraud.

It's not deceptive measures. It's good management."

In the end, the $3 increase for solid waste failed.

Mayor Pam Kennedy confirmed that it would not force any layoffs - although Webb noted it will hamper the ability to meet equipment needs in the future - then added that she hadn't seen the justification to add even a small amount in the midst of a tight economy.

Olson moved to subtract the $3 from the amendment and pass it with the current $108 assessment per average single family residence. It passed 4-2, with Kenyon and Atkinson opposed. Council members Kari Gabriel, Wayne Saverud and Duane Larson were absent.

Four remaining budget amendments passed with little or no comment.

Street maintenance, storm sewer maintenance and lighting district levies are the same as last year's amounts. The Kalispell Business Improvement District levy stays at its 2005 level, the last year it was collected before a court challenge put the district on hold.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com