The Whitefish City Council will take up several major proposals on Monday evening, including the city's annual budget, a plan to extend the city's urban growth boundary south of Montana 40, and ideas on how to spend more than $1 million the city is receiving in federal pandemic relief.

Gov. Greg Gianforte on Friday announced the latest round of disbursements to Montana cities from the American Rescue Plan that President Joe Biden signed in March. In a statement, Gianforte said the funds would provide cities with "the authority to address their individual needs, from supporting those impacted by the pandemic to investing in their infrastructure needs."

Whitefish is slated to receive $1,059,435 from the relief package. Gianforte's office hadn't announced the precise amounts going to Kalispell and Columbia Falls as of Friday, though a previous estimate from U.S. Sen. Jon Tester's office indicated Kalispell would get about $5.95 million in direct support. Those figures don't include money going to local school districts.

The Whitefish City Council will discuss what to do with the relief funds during a work session Monday. A presentation in the council's meeting documents says that money could be used for a variety of purposes, including:

• Covering costs associated with water, wastewater and stormwater components in the reconstruction of Edgewood Place, and offsetting spending from the city's resort tax revenue.
• Enabling the city to reduce the amount of resort tax it collects in fiscal 2022.
• Supplementing parks and recreation revenue.
• Purchasing "touchless" garbage bins for the city.
• Filling gaps in the city's affordable-housing programs.
• Supplying grants to nonprofits, businesses and individuals to aid recovery from pandemic-related financial impacts.
• Granting the city library's request for sanitation products.
• Continuing to offer video streaming and other "hybrid" options for hosting public meetings.
• Purchasing radios for the Whitefish Police Department.
• Providing "short-term rental compliance and enforcement services" related to health and safety.

After the work session, during a regular meeting, the council could take action on the proposal to extend sewer, water, police and fire protection services south of the city limits at Montana 40. Extending the urban growth boundary is one step in the annexation process. Council members and citizens have mulled and debated the proposal during recent council meetings.

The council also will consider a roughly $42.5 million annual operating budget that would decrease property tax collections and focus on keeping funds in the city's savings account.

The council convened in person for the first time last week after holding virtual meetings for more than a year due to the pandemic.

Monday's work session will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the main meeting will begin at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall; the option to participate via Webex video conferencing is still available. Instructions for tuning in, as well as the council's meeting agenda, can be found on the city's website.

Assistant editor Chad Sokol may be reached at 406-758-4439 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com.