Extra mills allowed for additional purchases

Large amounts of excess tax revenue, at least $380,000 in the last four years, received by Troy Area Dispatch District helped pay for the renovation of the dispatch building and purchase of a $704 chair, 40-inch high-definition TV and a treadmill.

District voters approved the allotment of 20 mills for their emergency response service in 2000, adding 13 mills to the original seven-mill cap that was set when the district was created in 1996. But for years, Troy Dispatch received extra money beyond its limit, due to an accounting error at the county Clerk and Recorder Office.

Troy Area Dispatch District Chairman Gene Rogers says the $160,000 renovation project would not have occurred had his district not received tax money levied in error. Much of the renovation costs were reimbursed through federal grants, but Rogers said excess local tax money was key.

“We could not have done it without that money,” Rogers said.

The revelation of $2.2 million countywide tax miscalculations and exponential tax hikes in certain special districts have transformed Lincoln County’s financial outlook from bad to worse. Even before the county realized that a quarter of its tax revenue from the last three years was drawn in error and actually belongs to the taxpayers, county commissioners were making tough decisions in an effort to cut one-fifth of the county budget over the next five years.

But a look into purchases by Troy Area Dispatch District, the special district receiving the greatest amount of excess tax revenue, portray an entity flush with cash and willing to spend on a few luxuries.

District expense reports indicate the purchase of a $388 treadmill Jan. 6, 2013, at a Walmart in Missoula.

A Walmart receipt dated Jan. 14 shows the $326 purchase of a 40-inch high-definition TV, which was paid for with a dispatch check signed by Rogers and Board Secretary M.G. Kensler.

Head Dispatcher Katie Davis purchased both items on separate trips to Missoula within two weeks. During that time Davis was compensated $205.34 for gas to cover half of her mileage expenses. A Jan. 8 document, signed by Kensler, authorizes Davis to receive a per diem for a trip “to Missoula to buy supplies for the new dispatch center.”

Conflicting stories explain the auspices under which the 40-inch high-definition TV and treadmill were purchased.

Davis said the purchase of the treadmill was made during a visit to Missoula for her niece’s birthday. The purchase of the TV occurred when Davis made a return trip for a doctor’s appointment. While the documents reflect a business trip, Davis described her trips as personal.

“They said if you find (the TV or treadmill) go ahead and get it,” Davis said. “There is no Walmart around here.”

Rogers said dispatchers occasionally walk on the treadmill while working 10-hour shifts.

“It’s for stress relief,” Rogers said.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Dispatcher Char Williamson said she has requested a treadmill for her dispatch in Libby. That request was denied.

“It was laughed at,” Williamson said. “A dispatcher puts on five pounds a year. I’ve done this for 20 years, you do the math.”

Eureka Dispatch does not have a treadmill, either.

During a tour of the Troy Area Dispatch Center, the treadmill was folded up and tucked away in a corner. The TV was tuned to the Weather Channel and mounted above the dispatcher’s four-monitor command center, which sits on a desk that can move up or down with the flick of a switch.

The dispatcher’s work chair is a $704 ergonomic piece purchased February 2013, from Spokane’s Contract Design Associates, Inc. Later that month, a local Shopko receipt shows the purchase of a $400 Dyson ball vacuum.

Records also show the $33,500 purchase of a 150-kilowat generator, complete with cold- and extreme-weather start kits, from Roger’s business, Rogers’ Electric. Rogers said the district bought the generator through his business because he was able to buy straight from the dealer, Generac Power Systems.

“There is some markup on it, but very little,” Rogers said. He was unsure how much his business profited from the transaction, but said the sum was minimal.

Despite those purchases, a current cash report shows Troy Area Dispatch District’s balance as $402,542. That does not include the $247,169 dispatch will receive later this year.

County officials acknowledge the district received nearly $380,000 in excess tax revenue during the last four years.

The total amount the district received beyond its 20-mill, voter-approved limit since 2000 is $986,000, although a little-known state law may allow counties to exceed voter-approved limits.

The realization of the district’s overtaxation rekindled discussions of dissolving Troy Dispatch and unifying services with Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office dispatch.

The first of three meetings to discuss the recently completed feasibility assessment conducted by the Sheriff’s Office was held Thursday at Troy Senior Citizens Center. During the meeting Sheriff Roby Bowe said his office’s dispatch could handle Troy-area calls at a cost of $10,000 a year to the Troy Police Department. Before the transition would be made, however, a $318,000 communications upgrade would be required. The two-step upgrade would install a communication tower at the Troy Landfill. The second phase would establish a microwave system and include the construction of an 80-foot tower on King Mountain. A timetable for the proposed project is uncertain.

Bowe and Undersheriff Brent Faulkner said the decision to dissolve Troy Dispatch is completely up to the voters. Should the transition receive public support, county commissioners have the authority to dissolve the district.

Rogers opposes the dissolution of the district.

“They can say this isn’t a power grab, but it is,” Rogers said. “They’re looking for money to run their own dispatch now.”

During Wednesday’s county commissioners meeting, a contract was unanimously approved, with the support of Troy Mayor Darren Coldwell, to hire St. Regis auditor Nicole Noonan to review Troy Dispatch’s financial expenditures during the last three years. The cost of the audit is not to exceed $3,500. County Clerk and Recorder Tammy Lauer said she expects the audit to be complete by the end of March.

(Editor's note: Williams requested a treadmill from former Lincoln County Undersheriff Jerry Rust)