The Kalispell City Council handily passed a $46.8 million budget and property tax levies totaling 185.1 mills for fiscal year 2014 on Monday.

Special assessment rate increases proposed for Kalispell’s urban forestry and street light maintenance programs failed on tied votes. Another proposal for the street maintenance program was narrowly approved, setting into motion a string of tax increases over the next five years.

The three-hour budget adoption meeting was not without sideshows as council members brought up numerous last-minute concerns, questions and proposals.

Pitches ranged from looking at privatizing Kalispell’s urban forestry operations to lowering the special assessment rate increases being considered and directing the Public Works Department to do an upcoming stormwater impact fee review in house with little or no help from a consultant to save an estimated $7,500.

Only the latter proposal got traction and passed as a budget amendment.

But a flurry of last-minute questions, concerns and proposals seemed to cloud issue after issue and at one point prompted council member Jim Atkinson to ask: “Why have all of these machinations come forward tonight that were not discussed in earlier work sessions?”

Phil Guiffrida III, Tim Kluesner and Bob Hafferman agreed that the issues should have been vetted through a work session instead of pitched for the first time when the budget was up for adoption. But no such work session was ever held, they said.

“I think this is a lesson for us as we move into next year,” Guiffrida said about the issues raised and the emails about them that some council members exchanged among themselves and with City Manager Doug Russell prior to Monday’s meeting.

“We had one workshop on these [special assessment increases] where staff provided their data showing trends and fund balances,” Guiffrida said. “I feel we should have had another. I hope to see that happen next year.”

Kalispell’s property tax levy of 185.1 mills is 1.6 mills less than the maximum Montana law allows for this fiscal year and half a mill less than the tax levy for 2013.

The defeat of special assessment increases for urban forestry and street light maintenance leaves the city with some financial challenges to solve. Both programs spend more money than they take in each year and are projected to finally run out of their cash reserves in 2015.

“They’re balanced for the 2014 budget so it’s not a do-or-die scenario,” Russell said. “That gives us some time to take a strategic approach. We’ll look at the resources available and make any adjustments we may need to make.”

The special assessments are charged in addition to the city’s property tax levies for general fund operations, health insurance and general obligation bond debt.

The rate increase for urban forestry would have raised additional money to pay for needed equipment and to cut down 150 dying elm trees afflicted with Dutch elm disease, freeing resources to tackle a backlog of maintenance pruning and a two-year waiting list for new tree plantings.

Dutch elm disease has pulled resources away from those other urban forestry operations and eaten into program finances. The program is expected to end fiscal year 2014 with just $2,800 in cash reserves — a total down from $58,000 just a few years ago.

The assessment rate for street light maintenance has not been increased since 2003. That program also spends more money than it takes in each year and is struggling to cover labor, equipment and electricity costs that have outpaced assessment revenues.

Both special assessment rate increases were supported by Atkinson, Randy Kenyon, Jeff Zauner and Wayne Saverud. They were opposed by Guiffrida, Hafferman, Kluesner and Mayor Tammi Fisher. Council member Kari Gabriel was not present to break 4-4 ties for both votes.

Hafferman proposed moving forward with lower rate increases for the two programs but that was not supported.

A rate increase for street maintenance passed 5-3, supported by Atkinson, Kenyon, Saverud, Zauner and Fisher.

It will increase the assessment each year for five years to set aside more money for equipment replacement, boosting that from $35,000 to $200,000 a year. It also aims to build the program’s cash reserves back up and to gradually set aside more money for pavement resurfacing, increasing that yearly allocation from $280,000 to $400,000.

Over the next five years, rates will rise from $.01222 to $.01968 per square foot for residential property owners and from $.019 to $.0306 per square foot for commercial property owners. With the full increase phased in, a typical residential property owner will pay about $48 a year more than under the existing rate. The typical commercial property owner will pay about $173 a year more than they are paying now.

The council also voted 5-3 to increase rates for about 150 commercial solid waste customers who get two or more trash pickups each week. The new rates make two pickups twice as expensive as one pickup and three pickups three times as expensive as one pickup.

The action was opposed by Guiffrida, Kluesner and Fisher. They argued that it raises rates when there is no need to do so. Others argued that it was a matter of equity and would help prevent future rate increases for other solid waste customers.

Kluesner and Guiffrida voted against all of the proposed rate increases Monday, arguing that the city had not adequately explored other options.

“The thing that bothers me is whenever we’re short on money, the first thing we do is pass it on the taxpayer,” Kluesner said. “That should be the last resort.”

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