Kalispell City Council members offered up some limited cost-saving ideas Monday as they waded department-by-department through a 146-page preliminary budget proposed for fiscal year 2013.

The nearly three-hour work session left the council with more funds to review, including the airport, water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer enterprise funds. Those will be taken up either before or after the council’s regular meeting next Monday, when the preliminary budget initially was set to be approved.

“We are being deliberate, as we should be, and I want fresh minds to go through the second half of this,” Mayor Tammi Fisher said.

Some form of the $46.75 million preliminary budget proposed must be adopted by July 1 simply for Kalispell to maintain spending authority in the new fiscal year.

The budget then would be finalized in August or September as actual carryover balances materialize and the state releases property valuations for the city.

While the preliminary budget proposal is up $4 million from last year’s $42.8 million total city budget, property-tax-funded general fund expenditures increase just $500,000 to $9.74 million, mostly because of council-approved pay raises, the purchase of three new police cars and efforts to keep on three firefighters who were paid through an expiring federal grant.

Funding to pay for a fourth firefighter had to be shifted to the general fund from an ambulance special revenue fund that’s still projected to end the year with a carryover balance of just $37,000. One vacancy in the fire department would remain unfilled.

Some of the overall budget increase is due to health insurance costs increasing from $678,000 to $768,000.

Carryover grant money and one-time grant money such as the $1.6 million from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, used to buy and renovate foreclosed homes for the Northwest Montana Community Land Trust, boost the total budget figure.

Also a factor are large capital improvement projects in the water, sanitary sewer and treatment and storm water enterprise funds that would be funded by impact fees, new debt or higher rates already passed by the council.

MOST of the cost-saving ideas floated Monday focused on equipment purchases.

Council member Bob Hafferman argued against Kalispell’s use of the “doggone credit card.” He pointed to a $115,000 loan budgeted in the light maintenance fund to replace an 18-year-old truck with a boom that’s too short to reach all of the city’s street lights.

“The end result is every year, for five years, we pay $718 interest,” Hafferman said of the proposed loan. “We’ve got so many unnecessary credit card purchases that are just completely unnecessary. We can pay cash on an item like this.”

Paying cash would draw the fund’s carryover balance down to about $40,000.

“Interest rates are so low when we look at a piece of equipment like that,” said Finance Director Amy Robertson. “But it’s your option. If you want to pay cash, you could do that. It would just drop the reserves down.”

Council member Tim Kluesner questioned whether a new boom truck is needed. He said he has priced acceptable used ones on websites such as MachineryTrader.com for less.

“I think you should look for a used one and cut that price in half,” Kluesner said. He raised the same point about $150,000 budgeted in the special street maintenance fund to buy two used, single-axle dump trucks.

COUNCIL member Jeff Zauner questioned if the 2 percent increase in Kalispell’s contribution to the consolidated 911 center is realistic. The preliminary budget projects a payment of $467,911.

“My recommendation is to hold firm with that 2 percent and say absolutely no additional requests,” Zauner said.

The consolidated 911 center, plagued with cost overruns since it opened, initially asked for a 7 percent increase in Kalispell’s contribution.

“I think the cities were very clear that 2 percent was what we could afford to do, and that we do not want to see any surprises,” said City Attorney Charlie Harball. “I think the cities were very adamant that they would have to manage within that amount.”

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.