A fiscally responsible budget

In May through August of each year, the city council and city officials meet to review the annual budget for the City of Whitefish. The budget provides the authority for the services and projects the city anticipates during the upcoming fiscal year.

As we approach the budget public hearings, I thought it would be helpful to submit to the taxpayers an overview of the FY 2014 budget and financial plans for the upcoming fiscal year.

The city is pleased to report that for the third year in a row, there is no planned increase in property tax rates; the city’s property tax mill levy will remain at 120.4 mills. The budget projects to increase year-end cash reserves as a percentage of expenditures from 10 percent in 2013 to 10.5 percent in 2014. This equates to $983,669 in cash reserves. As comparisons, Kalispell’s and Missoula’s preliminary budgets estimate year-end cash balances of 17.4 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively.

Just a few years ago, the city’s cash reserves were depleted as the recession set in. The city was faced with tough decisions, and we made them. Department heads tightened their belts and reduced their budgets. Maintenance needs, purchases, and some major capital improvements were deferred. Staffing levels were reduced in the administrative, Planning and Building and Parks and Recreation Departments.

Fortunately, economic indicators reflect that Whitefish is emerging from the economic downturn, as evidenced by a resurgence in new residential and commercial building activity. This past year, 51 new single-family residential homes, nine multi-family units, and 24 commercial projects were constructed in Whitefish.

The FY 2014 budget anticipates the total number of licenses and building permits to be even higher, and comparable to FY 2007/2008 levels, which is good news for the local economy.

The city’s resort tax revenues are continuing to grow by an average of 10 percent per year. In 2013, the city rebated more than $600,000 in resort tax revenues to homeowners to keep property taxes down. This rebate is one of the reasons why Whitefish maintains one of the lowest property tax mill rates in Montana. The city anticipates an even greater rebate to homeowners in 2014.

A host of projects and capital improvements are programmed in the preliminary budget for FY 2014. In conjunction with the Montana Department of Transportation, the first of three phases of the U.S. 93 West reconstruction project is underway. This project will be complemented by a city-sponsored study that will evaluate anticipated growth patterns, guide land-use decisions, and identify economic development opportunities along the U.S. 93 West corridor from Lupfer Avenue to State Park Road.

Geddes Avenue and surrounding streets are scheduled to be reconstructed this summer using resort tax revenues. Collectively, these projects will improve traffic circulation and pedestrian safety while enhancing the link between our downtown and existing parks, highway corridors, trailheads and bicycle and pedestrian paths.

The fire department will acquire several new pieces of apparatus with financing provided by the Whitefish Rural Service Area, the Firefighters Association, and a low-interest Intercap loan from the State of Montana.

The police department will continue researching opportunities to add a 16th full-time officer, and in cooperation with the Whitefish School District, reinstate a school resource officer to serve both the middle school and high school.

The city continues to show its support for the Whitefish High School reconstruction project and recently transferred one million of the $2.5 million in Tax Increment Financing approved by the City Council in 2012.

The city is preparing for a costly upgrade to its wastewater treatment plant in order to meet more stringent nutrient discharge standards it anticipates to face in its next permit cycle. In anticipation of these new standards, the city applied for and received a $100,000 planning grant from the DNRC to develop a nutrient trading plan to address nutrient loading in the Whitefish River drainage. This plan will help identify sensible, cost effective, and technically feasible approaches to permit compliance with nutrient regulations over the long-term. The City hopes this forward-looking approach will pay dividends down the road by keeping rates affordable for Whitefish taxpayers while doing our part to protect water quality.

Finally, in conjunction with Whitefish Legacy Partners, the city will expand the Whitefish Trail project and continue its outreach program to educate children, students and adults on the values of open spaces and access to public lands and clean water.

Along these lines, the Whitefish River cleanup is in the final stage of completion thanks to the BN Railway and Environmental Protection Agency. The city has also implemented an interim aquatic invasive species management plan to provide aquatic invasive species early detection and monitoring to reduce the risk of invasion to Whitefish Lake and the upper Flathead Basin.

The FY 2014 budget accomplishes a lot in regards to maintaining low property taxes, providing strategic re-staffing, and maintaining and expanding infrastructure to accommodate future growth. The city remains committed to keeping property taxes down while providing the goods and services you expect and deserve from government.

— John Muhlfeld is Mayor of Whitefish