The Flathead County commissioners awarded a contract Tuesday to build a consolidated 911 center that is $1.2 million under the original estimated budget.

The commissioners voted 2-0 to award a $3.305 million contract to Swank Enterprises, the lowest of five bidders. Commissioner Joe Brenneman was absent.

The project's designer, CTA Architects Engineers, estimated that it would cost up to $4.505 million to build the center.

Mike Shaw of the Flathead City-County 911 Administrative Board speculated the bid costs were down because of competition in a struggling economy.

The other four bids ranged from $3.313 million to $3.756 million.

Last November, Flathead County voters narrowly approved a bond issue of up to $6.9 million to build and equip an 11,800-square-foot 911 center near Glacier High School in northwestern Kalispell.

While $3.3 million covers the construction costs, an additional $1.4 million to $1.8 million is needed to pay for land, some equipment, design work, utilities and red-tape costs. That money is included in the bond issue.

If the total cost had been $6.9 million, that would have translated to a $12.48 annual increase in property taxes on a $200,000 house.

Now the bond amount will be adjusted to reflect the actual costs and the extra taxes will be decreased accordingly.

The soon-to-be-replaced 911 administrative board aims for a Dec. 31 completion of the building.

The new building is part of a plan to merge the county's four emergency dispatch centers into one facility.

The new center will handle current and future 911 needs, serve as the new emergency operations headquarters for all of Flathead County and be the depot for the county's emergency vans and trailers as well as a significant amount of other emergency equipment.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com