Columbia Falls mill levy goes down, thanks to resort tax revenue

Hungry Horse News

While spending is up, the Columbia Falls 2022-23 budget will actually see a reduction in mill levies, city council learned last week.

The reduction comes as a result of the 3% resort tax, which lowers the overall property tax levy by more than $136,000.

Last year the city levied about 191.7 mills, while this year it’s expected to levy about 181 mills, city manager Susan Nicosia told council.

The city’s taxable valuation also went up slightly and sits at just under $9 million.

The general fund budget actually rose about $143,000.

The police department takes up about 45% of the total general fund budget. It will see a boost of $189,000, or an increase of 12.8%.

The general fund pays for all city services outside of sewer and water.

This budget will likely be amended if the city receives a federal grant for three full-time firefighters. The city plans on adding full-time firefighters to its staff grant or not, but the grant would allow the city to pay most of the salary and other costs associated with the hire, while using resort tax funds to shore up any cost differences.

The rural fire department has also agreed to partially fund the full-time staff.