Kalispell City Council meets tonight for a 7 p.m. work session to discuss updated numbers in the budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. No votes are allowed at a work session.
Although Kalispell’s cash reserves are low for a city of its size, and the health of the budget amid the recession is arguably the chief issue facing city officials, no one took the opportunity to offer any feedback or comments to the council during the public budget hearing held July 20. Tonight, the city staff reviews the updated budget in light of the recent city manager hiring and other changes.
The new total budget number for the year beginning July 1 is $46,755,825, up from a previous estimate of $45.8 million. In a July 23 memo to council, Finance Director Amy Robertson and Interim City manager Myrt Webb note that the $987,649 increase is not new spending but a carryover from the previous fiscal year for grants and projects. The Fire Grants budget alone, the memo notes, has a $915,879 grant carryover for a new computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system.
The general fund increases slightly by $7,258 to $9,108,115. Tax collections are down $80,000 from what was billed, the memo states, and those funds tend to come in at a later date. City departments managed to scrape together a carryover of $226,000 for the general fund. The Ambulance Fund remains about $25,000 in the red, though that is likely to be reimbursed through a Medicare check for roughly that amount. Any shortfalls from the Ambulance Fund will require moving the salaries of firefighters paid through that fund back into the general Fire Department.
Also on tonight’s agenda, the council will hear from two groups requesting a portion of the Westside Tax Increment Finance District funds to make improvements. The owners of the Ashley Square Mall are asking for $1 million in TIF funds to contribute to a project estimated at $7.5 million that would pay for improvements to the parking lot, storm drain, building facades, land-scaping and utility upgrades.
The Gateway Community Center, which is currently at work improving the Gateway West Mall into a central location for local nonprofits, is also applying for $844,220 from the Westside TIF, which is scheduled to expire, or sunset, July 1, 2010.