City taxpayers to see small increase
Property taxes will inch up a little for city residents, the Columbia Falls City Council learned at its Aug. 4 meeting.
City manager Susan Nicosia said taxes to support the city’s $7.6 million proposed budget will increase by about $18 for a home with a market value of $200,000 and by about $25 when averaged across the city.
The number of mills the city will levy will increase by about 7.41 to 198.49 mills. Collected taxes will increase by nearly 4 percent to $1.32 million.
Nicosia said most of the increase is due to a 50 percent increase in the permissive medical levy, used for city employees’ health insurance, and one mill that will pay for a local government review approved by voters in June.
Nicosia explained that she preferred to use the permissive levy instead of general fund revenue for health insurance costs, but to levy only as much as is needed. The city is small enough that hiring a few new employees and having a few others change their coverage plans can create a large jump, she said.
The general fund, which is paid with property taxes, accounts for about 36 percent of the total budget. Of that, about 52 percent goes to police, fire, 911 dispatch and city court. The police department alone accounts for 36 percent of the general budget.
Historically, cities could expect fines and forfeitures to pay for police, but that’s no longer the case. Fines and forfeitures account for only 3 percent of total revenue. Last year, the city used property taxes to pay for city court, Nicosia said. A new electronic Digiticket system could increase fines by about 63 percent, according to the manufacturer.
Sewer and water services are budgeted as enterprise funds, paid for with user fees instead of taxes. The sewer fund takes up 25 percent of the total budget, and the water fund is about 16 percent.
The city will maintain a 20 percent cash reserve, which is city council policy, Nicosia said. About 10 percent will go to capital outlay.
The city received its certified taxable value from the Montana Department of Revenue before the Aug. 4 deadline. The city’s total market value came to $252 million, and the taxable value came to $6.6 million giving a mill value of $6,697.
The taxable value of Class 4 residential, commercial and industrial properties came to $5.6 million, about 2 percent more than last year. The taxable value of Class 8 business equipment properties, which dropped by 22 percent two years ago, dropped by 25 percent this year to $157,467.
The taxable value of Class 9 utilities, which increased about 21 percent two years ago and by 23 percent last year, dropped by about 3 percent this year to $561,503. The taxable value of Class 1 railroad and telecommunications properties stayed about the same at $300,820.
The top-10 taxpayers in Columbia Falls pay about 20 percent of the city’s property tax, Nicosia said. Flathead Electric Cooperative has been No. 1 since 2009, when Plum Creek dropped from No. 1 to No. 2. Only Plum Creek’s sawmill lies within the city limits.
Bresnan Communications, at No. 4, and Verizon Wireless, at No. 9, have filed tax protests with the Department of Revenue, Nicosia said. Freedom Bank, which was No. 10 in 2011, did not make the top-10 list this year.
Nicosia noted that the current boom in construction will not show up on the tax rolls until next year. Growth in the city as determined by building permits has jumped around from $4.5 million two years ago to $2 million last year and $8.8 million this year.