League wants state to pay fair share of city costs

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

The Montana League of Cities and Towns issued 10 resolutions for the 2009 Legislature at the conclusion of their annual conference in Missoula on Oct. 8-10.

"Local governments provide the services and facilities that are the foundation of the Montana economy," the League said. "Our cities and towns are among the best places in the country to live and work, raise a family and operate a business."

The League calls for protecting current payments to cities by the state and promoting new sources of revenue to cities so they can fund essential local services. That includes maintaining state grant and loan programs, prohibiting unfunded mandates, discouraging sprawl and enacting tourist taxes through initiative or referendum.

"The League of Cities and Towns has supported option tax authority for more than 20 years because the members believe that local voters are qualified to decide the type and amount of taxes they will pay," the League said. "Cities have also seen remarkable and measurable benefits of local tourist taxes in West Yellowstone, Whitefish and other selected cities and towns."

The League supports a local tourist tax that has mandatory voter approval and is limited to 4 percent. No more than 20 percent of the revenue could be distributed to the state's five regions, at least 30 percent would go to property tax reduction, and tax authority would sunset within 10 years.

Citing the large surplus projected for the state's next biennial budget, the League also called for giving more of the state's lodging tax to local governments.

"More than 70 percent of the Accommodations Tax revenue is collected from non-resident travelers who rely on local services during their time in Montana," the League said. "This money, more than $12 million in fiscal year 2007, should be sent back to where it is collected to help pay for city services and to address the radical imbalance between state and local revenues."

The League wants the state to pay for medical costs of offenders arrested for violating a state law and not to increase assessments used to pay for the state public defender system.

If the business-equipment tax is repealed or reduced, then cities should be reimbursed for the difference in revenue, the League said.

Other resolutions addressed tax-increment financing (TIF) districts, property tax re-appraisals, impact fees, alternative energy, consolidated 911 dispatch and public employee retirement plans.