Kalispell proposes $182M budget for fiscal 2026
May 6—Kalispell City Hall has released a $182.2 million preliminary budget for fiscal year 2026.
The financial roadmap proposed by City Manager Doug Russell is about $1.5 million more than the fiscal 2025 budget approved by City Council last year.
The city's general fund expenditures are expected to come in at $16.9 million, compared to roughly $16.5 million last year. Slightly over half of the general fund revenue comes from property taxes, and the fund is responsible for bankrolling most administrative and public safety operations. Departments in the general fund face inflationary and growth-related impacts, Russell wrote in his summary of the preliminary budget.
The budget does not include any staffing increases in departments supported through the general fund, according to Russell.
The proposed budget calls for reserves in the general fund ending balances to be 19% rather than the 20% outlined in city policy.
The fiscal 2026 budget includes a handful of hefty capital improvement projects, notably the replacement of two PFAS-contaminated drinking water wells. The city is expected to tap into federally funded programs to cover the estimated $22.6 million price tag for the projects, however.
As the city moves away from sending its biosolids to soon-to-be closing composting facility, Glacier Gold Composting, it is budgeting roughly $3.7 million to implement an alternative means of disposing of the waste.
Officials anticipate spending $5.3 million from the city's voter-approved public safety levy in fiscal 2026. The mill levy, which went into effect July 1, 2025, is intended to boost Kalispell's emergency services, including the addition of a third fire station on the west side of town.
Over fiscal 2025, money from the levy was used to hire 12 new Fire and Emergency Services personnel along with 11 new Kalispell Police Department staff. For this upcoming fiscal year, $226,000 is being staked out for two patrol cars and two detective vehicle replacements. The majority of the anticipated expenses for the Police Department are centered around maintaining and replacing existing equipment, according to Russell.
The Fire Department is allocating $260,000 for a new ambulance for its forthcoming third fire station along with $216,500 for equipment for a new fire engine expected to be delivered in the fall of 2026.
KALISPELL CITY Council will hold the first of a series of work sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday at 6 p.m. in City Hall, 201 First Ave. E., to discuss the proposed budgets for several city departments.
On Tuesday, councilors will discuss the general fund, Development Services and Public Works. On Wednesday, the body will look over the budgets for the Police and Fire/Emergency Medical Services departments along with Parks and Recreation and Information Technology.
The preliminary budget can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/mhh39m37.
Reporter Jack Underhill may be reached at 758-4407 or junderhill@dailyinterlake.com.
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