Flathead County Sheriff Lobbies Commissioners for More Staff

Appearing at the Flathead County Commission’s Aug. 30 budget meeting with the backing of dozens of law enforcement personnel and community leaders, Sheriff Brian Heino pleaded for more resources to keep pace with an emergency call volume that has grown exponentially in recent years, even as the department’s staff of patrol deputies remains static.

“I plead, commissioners, consider this sidebar request for two reasons. One, I’m worried about the growth of this community and the ability to provide public safety,” Heino said during the public comment period over the 2023 budget. “And two, I work for the people, and the people want a service level that I can’t provide right now with my numbers.”

The sheriff’s department has the largest budget in the county, with $11.9 million allocated for the next fiscal year. In an eleventh-hour appeal for additional patrol-staff funds, however, Heino lobbied the commissioners with a sidebar request for another seven deputies, which he said would help his department respond to a growing call volume and bring patrol staffing up to a level that meets the growing demand for emergency response.

The county leaders ultimately approved one additional deputy in their final budget.

“What’s keeping me up at night is calls like we’ve been going on — people with weapons and guns and only one or two guys showing up,” Heino said. “Our administration is no longer doing administrative work, they’re covering whatever we need them to do whether that’s coroner calls, emergency response … whatever it might be, we’re working more and more.”

Heino added that there had been a mass exodus of law enforcement over the last year, including more than a dozen deputies. Even with new hires, the department is operating with eight fewer deputies on patrol than Heino would consider adequate. 

Former Kalispell Police Chief Frank Garner also spoke during public comment, adding that in the early ’90s there would be four deputies on patrol at a given time for the county.

“It concerns me when I read that we have those same numbers responding in the county knowing the changes we’ve seen since then,” Garner said.

The department budget does include four additional full-time-equivalent positions, but two of them are deputies assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit. Those positions are already filled in the department but were previously funded by a grant. Under the new budget, they will be shifted to the county’s payroll. Along with the additional deputy, there will be a new detention court officer.

Commissioner Randy Brodehl said he sympathized with the sheriff and the numerous supporters who spoke during the public comment period, sharing stories of the stress deputies and their families are under with the increased workload.

“I get what the needs are out there, and I absolutely want to support public safety. It’s my number one priority,” Brodehl said. “We do have limited funds. Our ability to levy taxes is based on a formula that’s developed by the state of Montana through the legislative process, and it’s killing us when we try to affect the changes we need for what we’re facing.”

Brodehl noted that the cost of each additional deputy was roughly $182,000 between salary, a year of training and a new vehicle.

 While funding is not specifically allocated at this time, the budget report did include a review of two additional deputies in September and January.

“My original sidebar request was for seven deputies,” Heino reiterated. “That was a conservative request. If we do not go with the ability to hire deputies this year, next year we’ll be sitting here again.”

By the end of the Aug. 30 meeting, the Flathead County Commission had unanimously approved a $115.6 million budget for the county. 

The approved budget is a decrease of 1.7% from fiscal year 2022, however the appropriation for all funds in fiscal year 2022 is roughly $1 million higher than was initially proposed in June. The county expects a yearly revenue of $118.5 million, leaving a positive balance if the entire anticipated budget is expended.

A large portion of the expenditure budget includes $13.4 million for the capital improvement program (CIP), a slight decrease from the previous year. The CIP includes $169,500 for culture and recreation, $218,236 for public health, $3.7 million for public safety, $2 million for public works, $3.7 million for general government, $663,162 for social and economic services and $3 million for solid waste. 

Several CIP projects of note were highlighted in the adopted budget, including the continued renovations to Courthouse West and the Justice Center, which despite supply chain limitations are on schedule for a late fall and early spring occupancy respectively.

In addition to the authorized CIP expenditures for the fiscal year, the county also transferred a total of $12.4 million for future CIP needs. 

The county’s 551.7 full-time equivalent employees (FTE) make up another major portion of the budget. In the last year, a dozen FTE were added across multiple departments including an events and sponsorship coordinator for the fairgrounds, a portion of a new extension agent and six additional solid waste staff.  

Personnel costs for the year include a 2.5% cost of living adjustment, longevity funding and step increases in compliance with county policies and union contracts. 

“Flathead County is not immune to the labor shortages that are prevalent in both the state of Montana and around the country,” wrote County Administrator Pete Melnick in his budget message to the commission. “Our goal is to continue to make Flathead County an employer of choice for the many hard-working residents of the valley. We will continue to highlight our generous benefits, stable work-life balance, and positive organizational culture to prospective candidates.”

Melnick added in his report to the commissioners that the county continued to maintain adequate cash balances with projected reserve funds of $20.7 million at the end of the fiscal year. He wrote that holding high cash reserves are increasingly more important due to recent inflationary pressure.

“Price increases in consumables and commodities vex elected officials and department heads alike in their efforts to provide effective service to the public,” Melnick said. “We are proposing a solution and allowing departments to hold higher cash reserves … to allow our departments to draw on much needed funds to maintain continuity of operations.”

According to new valuation numbers released by the Montana Department of Revenue, the total taxable value for the county increased 3.4%, up to $337 million, which equals a $1,529,675 increase in total property tax dollars for the county.

The proposed property tax levy for the fiscal years is 143.86 mills, a slight increase to last year’s 143.67 mills. County tax bills will see a minimal bump, with a $.51 increase for every $200,000 in market value.