A look at Whitefish's 2015 budget

The Whitefish City Council held a budget work session May 27. Council is expected to have a second work session on the budget on June 9 before holding a public hearing on the preliminary budget June 16. A public hearing on the final budget is expected Aug. 18.

Municipal Court

Whitefish Judge Bradley Johnson is requesting a review of his compensation to address the absence of any longevity recognition in his pay. He has served as judge since 1986.

Johnson is asking to be paid for all prior passed over benefits during his term of employment. He would like 1 percent for each year of service, equaling 30 percent of his salary paid out over the next three years.

Fire and

ambulance

The fire department’s proposed budget includes capital expenditures of more than $1 million, including the purchase of a structural pumper, water tender and self contained breathing apparatus.

Fire Chief Tom Kennelly said the purchase of breathing apparatus equipment at $240,000 is important for the department. The department’s current equipment has reached the end of its service life.

“The masks we have now are not certified for chemical, biological or nuclear, which is now a requirement, “ he said. “These are the most critical piece of equipment we use at the fire department.”

Community Library

The library is requesting the city to increase its mill levy from 5.4 to 6.2 mills to be the same as Flathead County’s library mill levy.

“The Whitefish Community Library Board and director have done a phenomenal job providing library services during and after the transition (away from the county) with a bare bones budget,” Stearns said.

Michael Collins, chair of the library board, said some of the donations that gave seed money to help with the transition from county-control to city-control have ended and are no longer helping to pay operational costs.

“The library will continue to go out and look for donations, but we also thought it prudent that we look to you to say maybe this is time to adjust the mill levy slightly,” Collins said.

The library has increased its collection since splitting from the county in 2010. The library has gone from 36,000 to 50,000 in books.

The Whitefish library is ranked eighth in the state for business based on size of collection and number of patrons, according to Collins.

Library director Joey Kositzky said the library averages 300 patrons through its doors each day. She said Whitefish check-outs were up 21 percent from 2012 to 2013, while Kalispell’s check-outs were up 3.4 percent for the same period, and no other library in the state came close to that percentage of check-outs.

“While we may not be a big money-maker,” she said. “The service we provide to our library area and visitors — we are the only place in Whitefish that has 16 free Internet computers.”

The increase in business is translating into increases in the fees for the state services the library subscribes to for shared books, audio books and data bases, Kositzky noted.

Parks and Recreation

Included in the parks and recreation budget is a major change to the amount allocated for capital improvement. Last year’s budget was $145,000, while the fiscal 2015 budget for capital improvement is set at $25,000.

“A lot of that sacrifice is to afford a human resources director,” Stearns said. “Their operating and maintenance budget went up almost $100,000.”

Some of the operating and maintenance budget is planned to be spent for improvements at City Beach, including work to a retaining wall and on the deck around the concession stand.

The parks department originally requested to add another full-time position and purchase a $50,000 Bobcat for snow plowing. However, the request didn’t make it into the preliminary budget because of a lack of funds to pay for it.

The city will be responsible to plow along one side of the new sidewalks along Highway 93 North. Including the additional staff and the equipment would mean the city could plow the sidewalks and trails more quickly. It currently takes about two days for all walking areas to be plowed.

Stearns said one way to pay for unfunded needs for the parks department would be to increase the park and greenway assessment. The assessment is determined by the front footage of each property and currently raises $185,000 for the parks department.

Councilors Richard Hildner, Jen Frandsen and Pam Barberis asked to revisit the idea of increasing the assessment at subsequent budget meetings.

Planning and Building

Both the planning and building department budgets reflects an increase in projects coming through the city. Revenue is projected to be up for the planning department by about $28,500. Revenue for the building department is expected to increase about $120,000.

“This last year has been pretty crazy for projects,” Planning Director Dave Taylor said. “We’re already seeing a number of projects.”

Taylor anticipates an application to the city for a subdivision proposal for Blanchard Lake and another request to construct an apartment complex on Highway 93 South.

Taylor said the number of building permits continues to increase as well. Already for this calendar year, the city has seen 48 dwelling unit building permits, according to Taylor. This compares with 77 for 2013 and typically the building department sees a greater number of permits issued in the fall.

One expense in the planning budget is for a Highway 93 South Corridor Plan at a cost of $40,000. The remaining $50,000 for consultant costs for the project will be paid out of the tax increment fund.

Expenses in the building department budget include purchase of two pickup trucks. Minus the trade in value, the city anticipates spending $50,000 for the purchase.