The Kalispell City Council is considering an $82.5 million budget for fiscal year 2021, a potential increase of about $2.5 million from the previous year.

The council will hold a work session on the preliminary budget following its meeting at 7 p.m. Monday evening. There are no action items on the agenda for the regular meeting.

The council chambers are closed to the public due to the COVID-19 health emergency, but the council will accept public comments via email at publiccomment@kalispell.com.

“This year’s budget is marked by the circumstances of a world-wide pandemic that will likely have a social, cultural, and economic impact,” noted City Manager Doug Russell in his 2021 budget message.

“Stepping back from the immediacy of the pandemic, this budget has been assembled to focus on the efforts within the community and the public services that the City of Kalispell provides to hopefully provide a foundation for the private market to rebound and society to return to a semblance of stability,” Russell added.

The budget is primarily funded through property taxes.

The proposed 2021 budget reflects various anticipated projects and changes during fiscal year 2021, including the completion of the Core Area Trail, improvements at Lion’s Park, two significant information technology projects and four new full-time positions in different city departments, including the police and fire departments.

The council also expects to see less activity in the city’s Building Department this year, although they anticipate an increase in residential projects.

In fiscal year 2021, they are proposing building a 16,00-square-foot storage facility for law enforcement to store and search evidence. The building is estimated to cost $278,520, whereas the city currently pays $7,500 per year to rent a facility for this purpose.

Other changes in the upcoming fiscal year include expected increases to the city’s health and property insurance costs from the Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority. Health insurance costs are expected to increase by about 7% for members of the insurance pool that includes the city of Kalispell, which is higher than the increase initially projected before the pandemic.

The budget proposal also states, “Our property insurance costs from MMIA have risen significantly,” although no exact figures are provided. This change is mostly attributed to “an overall market correction in the industry.”

Inflation costs are not currently included in the proposed budget because of the uncertainty related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The biggest proposed change in the 2021 budget is a nearly $3 million decrease in the general government group expenditures, which fund insurance, debt service, information technology, planning, building, finance, the city clerk, city manager, human resources, mayor and city council budgets.

Other significant changes include an approximately $4 million decrease in community development funding and a nearly $8 million increase in the public works budget.

The full proposed budget is available at: https://www.kalispell.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/150

The city council meeting starts at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 18 and can be watched live at

https://www.kalispell.com/480/Meeting-Videos. The budget work session will start immediately after the regular meeting.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.