Flathead County’s final budget for the coming year adds three employees to the payroll — boosting the county’s work force to 525 workers — and gives most workers a 3.5 percent cost-of-living raise.

The commissioners will vote on the proposed $81.2 million budget at 10 a.m. today following a public hearing. The commissioners are obligated by state law to pass a final budget by Sept. 2.

Last year’s budget was $75.2 million.

Property taxes will increase by roughly 2 percent to meet the county’s expected increase in expenditures.

Home valuations are continually in flux based on the state Department of Revenue’s appraisal system, but the owner of a home with a current market value of $200,000, who paid about $412 in county taxes last year, can expect a tax increase of a little more than $8 for the coming year for the county’s portion of the tax bill, County Administrator Mike Pence estimated.

The total market value of property in Flathead County increased from $9.32 billion last year to $9.93 billion for fiscal 2014.

Two years ago the total market value was $8.77 billion.

Taxable valuation numbers recently obtained from the state Department of Revenue show that the new taxable value of county property is $251.3 million, up from $244.1 million last year, a 2.9 percent increase.

While the total number of property-tax mills is decreasing from 149.16 to 147.98, the value of a mill is higher because of the increase in taxable value, County Administrator Mike Pence said.

The value of one mill now stands at $241,807, compared to $234,977 last year.

The mill rate is the amount of tax payable per dollar of the assessed value of a property. One mill is equivalent to one-tenth of a cent. Property tax in dollar terms is calculated by multiplying the assessed property value and the mill rate and dividing by 1,000.

The county will collect just over $34 million in property taxes in the coming year, a 2.1 percent increase that nearly matches the county’s budget increase to cover expenditures.

“I believe we have honored the direction of the Board of Commissioners to end at approximately a 2 percent increase over last year’s budget total,” Pence said in his budget message.

A cash balance of $11.8 million is expected at end of the fiscal year, a level of 24 percent. Local governments can retain cash reserves of up to 33 percent by law.

Capital improvement projects figure prominently into this year’s budget, with $7.5 million in various projects and expenditures planned. Highlights of planned capital projects include:

q Culture and recreation ($986,258) — A new grandstand roof and various infrastructure improvements at the fairgrounds, plus new equipment and investment in county parks.

q General government ($1.4 million) — A new maintenance shop office, improvements to the newly purchased State Farm Insurance building, architectural design work for the Old Jail, information technology upgrades, computer equipment and a new ballot scanner for the Election Department.

q Public Health ($60,000) — Two new vehicles.

q Public Safety ($889,775) — Includes $410,000 for Sheriff’s Office replacement vehicles; $300,000 for upgrades to county jail.

q Public Works ($394,000) — Includes building addition at Road Department; new vehicles.

q Social and Economic Services ($248,000) — Includes bus replacement for Eagle Transit; nutrition-related supplies.

q Solid Waste ($3.5 million) — Includes $2 million to purchase land for future landfill expansion; $100,000 to purchase land for future Bigfork green-box container site; $300,000 for new refuse truck; $300,000 for landfill liner expansion; $110,000 for equipment replacement and rebuilds; and $275,000 to develop the Essex green-box site.

New positions added to the county work force include a full-time employee in the Information Technology Department and a half-time person for records.

The Community Health Clinic will get the full-time equivalent of 1.5 more employees, including part-time positions for a physician, dentist and administrative support specialist.

Pence said the county moved a significant number of past budget expenditure items from the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes fund to the general fund for ongoing expenditures such as the rent for the Agency on Agency building, financial/payroll software maintenance, debt service for the heating and air-conditioning upgrades and other smaller items.

The Road Department will continue to get a $500,000 annual transfer from the PILT fund, but most of the remaining money in that fund is being earmarked for projects in the five-year capital improvement plan.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.