Troy city budget holds the line on property taxes

By GWEN ALBERS Western News Reporter

Troy City Council approved a $588,247 budget that will not require property owners to pay higher taxes.

At the current tax rate of 154 mills, the average property owner in Troy pays about $200 a year for city services.

The budget for 2006-2007 does not eliminate or add any services, nor does it include money for any major projects.

The spending plan includes pay-raises ranging from 1.9 percent to 3 percent for the city's five part-time and 12 full-time employees.

In other business, council discussed waiting to find a contractor for a $3.4 million upgrade to the water system

City engineer Mike Fraser of Thomas, Dean & Hoskins in Kalispell told council he planned to advertise the project on Sept. 6. Bids would be opened on Sept. 27, with construction starting as weather permits.

Mark Fennessy, the city's attorney, suggested waiting to seek bids from contractors.

"I'm kind of hearing people are so busy, they're just throwing out numbers," Fennessy said. "They're bidding $400,000, $500,000 and $600,000 over. There so busy that if they get that, they want to get paid for it."

Fraser said he would see how busy potential contractors are in Kalispell, Sandpoint and Libby. The project could be bid later in the fall.

The project will involve replacing troublesome water mains on Riverside, Spokane and Mineral avenues and all fire hydrants; purchasing meters and a new storage tank; and putting in a new water well for the south side of town. Subsequent phases will replace all the mains in the city, make all the water service hook-ups through a meter, and add the new well and tank to the city system.

The need for the water project goes back several years to when water mains along Riverside and Mill avenues, as well as some downtown mains, were losing water through numerous leaks. The problem wiped out the water department's savings, and money had to be borrowed from another city fund to cover costs. In addition, city residents were paying for treated water leaking into the ground.

Troy received federal grants totaling $1.46 million for the first phase of the water project. A yet-to-be-determined increase in water bills will be needed to pay back a $1.9 million low-interest loan to the federal government for improvements.