The Budget Committee of the Whole voted 7-5 to adopt a budget that preserves city services and jobs with a 4.82 percent increase in city property taxes. The decision appears to bring a hairy budgeting season to a close but not without casualties.
Council members wanting a leaner budget didn't get traction for proposed cuts to the $43.2 million general fund. The idea to hire an employee to help the city rein in energy consumption - and save more than a salary's worth of money - looks to be off the table this year.
Ward 2 Councilman John Hendrickson had earlier outlined $1.5 million worth of cuts, but said he backed off Wednesday because he knew he didn't have the votes. He cut off discussion with a procedural move - and with agreement from most of his peers. At the same time, he said he was disappointed the final budget wasn't smaller.
“We're trying to tax our way out of a problem,” Hendrickson said.
Hendrickson, Ward 5 Councilors Dick Haines and Renee Mitchell, and Ward 4 Councilors Jon Wilkins and Lyn Hellegaard voted not to adopt the budget. It looked to be balanced earlier this year with a levy increase of just 3.5 percent but the city underestimated its income, which the Department of Revenue calculates.
Haines, who at one point didn't want to see any increases to property taxpayers this year, said he didn't want the city to be in the same bind next year. He backed Hendrickson's suggestion of leaving vacant positions open for a time so people wouldn't need to be laid off later on should the economy worsen.
“It's very difficult and very traumatic to suddenly reduce people,” Haines said.
Mayor Engen agreed but said the city already pays close attention to hiring and makes adjustments as necessary. And he also cautioned council members about the damage they do to employees when they suggest layoffs, as some council members have done. He said the city isn't in a crisis now and doesn't expect it will face one next year either.
“Next year, we're not imagining terrific growth, but we're also not imagining terrific pain,” Engen said.
The budget grew by about $1 million last year and it's growing by nearly as much - $950,000 - this year, Engen said. Of that, some $289,000 is due to the rising cost of energy.
That's one area where Ward 6 Councilwoman Marilyn Marler said she wanted to see more savings. She'd suggested hiring a sustainability coordinator who would help the city become more energy efficient - and save on its power bills. Such positions have more than paid for themselves in other cities, but Missoula held off this year.
“I just feel like we could be doing more to conserve,” Marler said.
She supported the mayor's budget despite her grievance, as did another dissatisfied council member. Ward 3 Councilwoman Stacy Rye said she wasn't pleased with the way the Department of Revenue held up the city.
The agency provides the city with its revenue figure but the number seems to be a moving target and city officials don't know how it's calculated.
“It's adjusted in ways that are never disclosed to us,” said city finance director Brentt Ramharter.
Rye said she appreciates the mayor working to lift the curtain at the DOR so the city could understand the “mystery” of the math computation. But she wasn't thrilled with the department.
“The list of state agencies that we're becoming frustrated with is growing. And it's getting long,” Rye said. “(But) it's supposed to be a brand-new day in Montana.”
A mill levy increase of 4.82 percent this year will fall more or less in line with city levy bumps in recent years, according to data from the city. Last year, the increase was 3.66 percent. The year before that, it was 4.25 percent. And a year earlier, it hit 7.57 percent.
It's a cost of roughly $26 a year on a home worth some $225,000 according to the city. Holding the boost down to just 3.5 percent would have dropped that annual payment to $19.
Reporter Keila Szpaller can be reached at 523-5262 or at keila.szpaller@missoulian.com.
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