Whitefish City Council unanimously approved the fiscal year 2026 budget and the five-year Capital Improvement Plan last week. 

The total budget for fiscal year 2026 is $58 million. In fiscal year 2025, the budget was about $53.5 million. 

City Manager Dana Smith explained there is a tiered structure for property tax following the 2025 Legislature’s property tax relief measures. For a home valued under 400,000, the tax rate is 0.76%. For homes with a value of $1 million, the additional $600,000 has a 1.1% tax rate. A home valued at $2 million will calculate a 2.2% tax rate on the additional $1 million. 

The tax rate is used to calculate taxable value, which is multiplied by the property’s mill rate to determine taxes.  

Smith said property tax relief for Whitefish property owners from resort taxes is increasing. 

“We’ll be rebating $2.45 million,” she said. 

The city’s fund balance, about $6 million, represents 35.91% of total expenditures. Most of the decrease is related to capital improvement projects.  

Wages for city employees are being adjusted to be 95% of market wages, so most employees will see a total of a 9% increase. 

Smith said the city’s portion of the tax bill ranges between 20% and 25%.  

“The other portions, we have no control over,” she said, referring to the Flathead Valley Community College, school districts, the county and state mills. 

Without further discussion, the council unanimously adopted the budget and a dozen resolutions related to the budget. It also adopted the 2026-2030 capital improvement plan. 

Director of Parks and Recreation Maria Butts requested and received authorization to bid parts of Phase 4 of the Armory Park Master Plan.  

The council voted unanimously to bid the projects, including a new restroom and playground paths. 

Whitefish City Planner Dave Taylor said 12 proposals were submitted in July to work on the land use chapter of the city’s growth policy. After narrowing that field to four, interviews occurred and czb LLC was the committee’s clear choice. 

“Their bid for the contract was $149,700 which is on the low end of the submittals that we had,” Taylor said.  

The council voted unanimously to award the contract to czb LLC.