Weeks of public hearings have gone by at Missoula City Council meetings with no citizen comments on the proposed 2009 budget. Then, an apparent shortfall reared its head.
And the questions arose: Cut? Pay? Do both?
“I hope that you move forward with the budget without any reductions,” Aten said.
And Jeff Stevens said he especially didn't want to see any cuts to neighborhood grants because they make a big difference in the community. Reducing funds for such a successful program would be shortsighted - as would a cut to the Parks and Recreation Department's conservation program, he said.
A third - and younger - citizen weighed in before the meeting. Harley Richardson, 14, said he didn't want the city to lay off any employees. Richardson, with the Boy Scouts of America Troop 1911, attended the meeting in partial fulfillment for a merit badge in citizenship.
“I think it's not polite to take it out of everyone's career,” Richardson said.
The shortfall came up when the Montana Department of Revenue told Missoula the income it was getting this fiscal year. It was less than Missoula expected - even with conservative projections - and city officials aren't convinced it's right.
Turns out Missoula isn't alone. Mayor John Engen said Monday that other local governments are asking the DOR to do another round of number crunching. Among them are Bozeman and Gallatin County, Missoula County, and Kalispell and Flathead County, according to the city finance director and chief administrative officer.
Advocates from the Montana League of Cities and Towns and the Montana Association of Counties are making calls to the state agency as well, said Bruce Bender, chief administrative officer for Missoula.
For now, Missoula is on hold and working with the figures it's got. Engen said the city must live within its means and balance a budget. In other words, he said it can't do the deficit spending the federal government does. Engen also said the shortfall isn't much when compared with the overall budget of
$42 million.
“The city is not in financial peril, and I don't want anyone to have that impression,” Engen said.
Wednesday in committee, council members plan to take up possible cuts, and several said they're ready to pitch ideas. But Ward 6 Councilman Ed Childers said deadlines are looming and the governing body needs to hustle.
“We do not want to dawdle excessively,” Childers said.
In other business:
- Council members unanimously approved a special lighting district, with Ward 2 Councilwoman Pam Walzer absent.
- On an 8-3 vote, they levied a special tax to pay for traffic circles in the University District, a project requested from the neighborhood. Ward 4 Councilwoman Lyn Hellegaard and Ward 5 Councilors Dick Haines and Renee Mitchell opposed the resolution. Mitchell said she was voting with people who didn't want to pay more taxes.
- Councilors unanimously approved a resolution to levy a tax that helps fund sidewalks, curbs and gutters.
Reporter Keila Szpaller can be reached at 523-5262 or at keila.szpaller@missoulian.com.
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