Cities ask Legislature for local option tax authority

HELENA — Montana's seven largest cities are growing economically, but they need the Legislature to allow them to place local-option taxes before voters to help pay for various public works projects, speakers at a Montana on the Move luncheon said Tuesday.

This project, launched by civic and business leaders in the seven cities, sponsored a lunch at the Great Northern Best Western Hotel for lawmakers to promote the group's goals. More than 100 people attended.

The effort, a project of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana, uses economic and demographic material developed by Larry Swanson, the center's associate director, as a platform for communities to address the opportunities and challenges presented by Montana's changing economies.

"The whole concept of regional economies is so important," said master of ceremonies Mike Gulledge, publisher of The Billings Gazette.

"The most important thing we've got to talk about is economic development," Gov. Brian Schweitzer told the crowd.

Schweitzer reiterated his call for enhancing Montana's colleges of technology and other two-year colleges to allow them to tailor academic programs to meet the needs of employers. His budget also calls for funding a number of scholarships for Montana students attending both two- and four-year colleges.

"We need centers of learning that are ready to respond (to employers' needs) that fast," Schweitzer said, snapping his fingers rapidly. "We don't believe we need to raise taxes to get the job done."

Daniel Kemmis, director of the UM center and a former Missoula mayor and speaker of the Montana House, called Montana on the Move one tool to help make a real difference.

"We have to be able to deal with things as they actually exist - the changes, the challenges and the opportunities," Kemmis said.

Kemmis called the seven communities - Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Butte, Bozeman, Helena and Kalispell - "a tremendous resource to the state."

"(The cities) are increasingly becoming the driving economic engines in this state," Kemmis said. "We see people able to sit down to do problem-solving together."

Kemmis said the group wants to bring that "local energy to bear at the state level."

Swanson said Montana's economy slumped in the 1980s but saw growth in the 1990s, with population growth spreading into the interior West, and not just metropolitan areas. Smaller cities, especially those high in environmental amenities in the area, saw growth, including some in Montana.

For most of the past decade, the true character of Montana's renewed economic growth went unrecognized, he said. Now it's clear that Montana's high quality of life along with its quality cities and communities are drawing more and more people, including permanent and part-time residents, Swanson said.

"These cities have become new resources for economic advancement in Montana," he said. "They have become economic engines for continued job growth, diversification and income creation."

The growth is increasingly occurring within Montana's major economic centers, with 60 percent of all Montanans living within 20 miles of the seven major cities, where more than 65 percent of jobs are, Swanson said. The economic growth in these cities is spreading income and prosperity to outlying communities and residents, he said.

After a series of Montana on the Move meetings, Swanson said these needs emerged:

To build and maintain cities of quality through quality infrastructure or roads, streets, water and sewer systems and police and fire protection services.

To grow workforces through quality "workforce development programming" and a quality system of education.

To establish quality planning and growth management.

To pursue economic prosperity through various regional initiatives.

To develop urban-rural partnerships for regional economic improvement.

Missoula Mayor Mike Kadas said communities need two tools from the Legislature: the ability to present local-option taxes to voters on the ballot and to levy impact fees in rapidly growing areas.

Great Falls Mayor Randy Gray said the major cities, which once didn't get along, are working together cohesively on projects.