City OK’s budget, slight tax increase possible for most

The Columbia Falls city council last week approved a $17.767 million budget, which is up by about $4.3 million over last year.

The biggest increase in the overall budget is an increase in the city’s sewer fund, as the city plans to upgrade its sewage treatment facility this coming year at an estimated cost of $5.5 million. The city is planning on offsetting the cost of the sewage plant upgrades by about $2.87 million in federal CARES Act and other funding.

The city’s water fund, by contrast, is down about $3.628 million, as the city’s third well project is complete.

Sewer and water budgets are separate from the city’s general fund budget. The general fund covers the day-to-day operations of the city, such as police, planning and parks, to name a few services

The general fund actually went down a bit — about $34,000 — as the city no longer pays the county for 911 services. It’s now covered under a separate voter-approved county levy.

Property taxes and special assessments only amount to about $2.092 million of city revenues. The remainder come from fees for other services, government grants and other investments.

The city will continue to invest in its parks this coming year. It set aside about $10,000 to remove the old tennis courts at Columbus Park and hopes to get a federal grant to put in new pickleball courts.

It also plans on investing about $220,000 more in Hoerner Park, which is across the street from the high school.

Tennis courts are currently going in there and the city will add playground equipment and other amenities to the park.

Right now the park will have four tennis courts, but there will be room for two more.

The mill levy in this year’s budget actually goes down about 30 mills, from 221 to 191 this year. But because property values have gone up due to reassessments, most homeowners will see a modest increase in taxes unless they’ve done a significant improvement to their home or property.

As one example, a home that saw an increase in its assessment of 18% would still see a tax increase of $11.39 because of the increase in their assessment.

The “average” $250,000 home, with no change in valuation, would see a net decrease of $102.50 in their property tax bill, though few homes in Columbia Falls saw a decrease in valuation.