New 911 fee would lower costs for homeowners

County officials have unveiled the proposed tax structure that would apply to businesses and residences under a proposed countywide special 911 district meant to raise $1.9 million per year for 911 communication infrastructure.

The proposal would charge an annual $25 fee to single residences. That would result in a reduction for the average Columbia falls homeowner, city manager Susan Nicosia said recently. Right now, a homeowner in the city pays more than $50 a year.

Under the new proposed system, owners of apartment buildings would have to pay $25 per unit. Other commercial businesses will be assessed on a sliding scale ranging from a $50 annual fee to a maximum $1,000 fee.

“It’s based on the type of business,” Flathead County Administrator Mike Pence said.

Pence said a previous plan had calculated the tax based on how much garbage disposal was used at a business, but that it was decided that Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry and a team of deputies might be better equipped to propose a fair tax model based on how likely a business is to need 911 services.

“Obviously we don’t care about how much garbage a business makes, so then we decided to assess what the historical type of response for the business was,” Curry said. “A bar-casino is probably going to pay a higher assessment than a carpet cleaning business.”

Sometimes businesses that provide the same type of services may pay different fees because they have varying response needs. A bed and breakfast would pay $50 per year under the plan, while a guest ranch would pay $75, and hotels would pay $1,000.

“They kind of do the same thing, but not really,” Curry said. “A bed and breakfast really has a small amount of people. We are at hotels a lot” because of how big their clientele is.

Curry said the team put a lot of time into the plan.

“We attempted to do it fairly based upon historical usage by type of business,” Curry said. “We had to spend some time looking at it. The commissioners and certainly the Future Funding Committee of the 911 Center have worked very hard on a fair and equitable plan. This is the most fair and equitable plan I’ve seen.”

Flathead 911 Center Director Elizabeth Brooks said creating a funding mechanism for the center’s capital improvement is absolutely essential. Capital improvement includes computers, radios and other equipment needed to connect responders with callers.

“We’re always going to be here to answer the call, but the efficiency and the speed at which that call is responded to depends very heavily on our infrastructure and equipment,” Brooks said. “It’s important that we keep up to date and keep our systems running as efficiently as possible. I’m not sure how that is going to happen without appropriate funding.”

Taxpayers approved a $6.9 million bond in 2008 that included $800,000 earmarked for capital improvement, but the end of that bond issue is near. The vote consolidated the county’s 911 services, though it did not provide for capital improvement funding or consolidate tax bills. People within city limits are currently billed twice for emergency services by the tax rolls, once by the city and once by the county. Commissioners have said that they would like to see the cities repeal their 911 taxes if the countywide measure is passed, but that is ultimately up to each city.

Brooks said finding funding for the technologies is essential. She pointed out that the center’s computers age three times as fast as commercial-use computers because they operate all day, every day of the year.

“It’s critical to our operations,” Brooks said.

If the commissioners approve the special 911 district plan, it will enter a 60-day protest period on Oct. 30.

During that time, property owners can stop the creation of the district if they collectively protest between $190,000 and $950,000 in taxes. At that point, the issue would be sent to the voters in a special or general election. If more than $950,000 is protested, then the tax district can’t be brought before the commissioners for a year.

Pence said taxpayers will receive a notice in the mail if the measure passes that will tell them what their proposed tax rate would be under the plan.

This story contains additional reporting by Chris Peterson.