Page 24 - Flathead Beacon // 3.5.14

24 | MARCH 5, 2014
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Rotary~

MAKING OF A

COMMUNITY!

Lincoln County Commissioner Tony Berget discusses a inancial error that resulted in an estimated $2
million in overtaxation during a press conference in Libby on Feb. 7. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
E
ver wonder how projects in the community get ac-
complished? Ever think who is behind the eforts “IT LOOKS LIKE WE’RE JUST GOING TO HAVE TO REDUCE

that make our community a better place? Rotary has TAXES FOR THE NEXT TWO OR THREE YEARS AND WE’RE

been the driving force in numerous community projects:
NOW DEBATING HOW LONG THAT WILL TAKE. BUT WE WANT

TO DO IT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.”

• Coordinates and administers Ro- • Donated to local Food Banks, Tony Berget, Lincoln County Commissioner
tary Basketball for over 900 youths Flathead Youth Home, Serious Ju

annually and has since 1978
Ju Skatepark, Hockaday Center
for the Arts and Central Museum
BUDGET
• Raised funds to construct the years and we’re now debating how long
• Installed a bench and Continued from page 5
that will take,” he said. “But we want to
Babe Ruth Baseball Fields at
Kidsports- Rotary is the longest clock in Depot Park
in 2012–2013, $111,278.10; and in 2013– do it as quickly as possible.”
2014, $216,915.30; for a grand total of Berget said the county is looking to
running sponsor of a Babe Ruth • Assisted in rebuilding $379,932.76 over four years. Additional make cuts anywhere it can, and one op-
baseball team in Kalispell
Conrad Mansion stone wall
mistakes were found in how the Troy tion is closing the Troy Area Dispatch,
Parks District and the Lincoln County which is at the center of the mathemati-
Campus District received funding. In cal mistake. Lincoln County Sherif
• Major donor to Glacier • Helped construct the all, Lincoln County over-taxed its citi- Roby Bowe has been hosting a series of
Lone Pine Overlook Walkway
zens by $2,112,597.25, according to pre- public meetings about the matter and
Symphony & Chorale
youth programs
• Purchases and distributes liminary and unveriied igures ofered said consolidating the dispatch with the
by the county.
one in Libby would save money.
dictionaries to all L. Harold Blattie, executive director “It would be just as efective as it is
• Supports Boys Scout Troop and Montana third graders
of the Montana Association of Coun- now,” Bowe said.
ties, said the error happened sometime According to Bowe, the Troy Area
sponsored a new troop
• Raised funds to construct around 2009 when the county clerk Dispatch’s budget is about $250,000 an-
and recorder was calculating tax data nually. He argues his dispatchers could
Miracle League Field at the
• Ring bells for Kidsports complex
that determines how many mills can be do the same job for $10,000 every year,
Salvation Army annually
levied in each district. Instead of enter- following an initial cost to update area
ing the gross proceeds money received radio towers that would cost $300,000.
• Assisted the United Way in from the Troy Mine, the clerk entered However, Mayor Coldwell and Troy
• Built the handicap ramp construction of the Youth Center and the taxable value of that money and that Area Dispatch board member Gene Rog-
mistake resulted in the mill levies ex- ers said closing the local dispatching
at the Friendship House
the Big Brothers Big Sisters oices
ceeding their limits. On Feb. 7, the Lin- center doesn’t make sense, especially
coln County commissioners and Tammy since it was recently refurnished. Be-

All this by just ONE of the SIX Lauer, the clerk and recorder responsi- sides dispatching police and ire ser-
ble for the mistake, met with citizens to vices, the Troy Area Dispatch organizes
inform them of what happened.
school bus drivers, utility workers and
Flathead Valley Rotary Clubs!
In the weeks since, oicials have even occasionally helps reunite people
been combing over the books and have with a lost pet. If the dispatching center
hired an independent auditor to look at were to close in Troy, six people would
the Troy Area Dispatch’s budget and au- also lose their jobs.

dit all of the mill levy worksheets from “That’s six families impacted by
Evergreen - Tues. 12:00pm @ Perkins
the last three years. Once those reviews this,” he said. “That’s not good for Troy.”
are completed, the county will igure out Berget said it would be up to the peo-
Whiteish - Tues. 12:00pm @ Moose Lodge 642
how to reimburse taxpayers. Commis- ple to decide if the Troy Area Dispatch
Bigfork - Wed. 12:00pm @ Methodist Church
sioner Tony Berget said the county had should close and it may be put on the bal-
hoped it would be able to simply issue a lot in June.
Columbia Falls - Wed. 12:00pm @ Back Room
reimbursement check, but that turned “It was voted in by the people and so
Kalispell Daybreak - Thur. 7:00am @ Buffalo Hills Golf Course out to be cost prohibitive.
we think it’s right that they decide what

Kalispell Noon - Thur. 12:00pm @ Hilton Garden
“It looks like we’re just going to have happens,” he said.
to reduce taxes for the next two or three
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