As I close out my mayoral term, I express my sincere appreciation to the residents and taxpayers in the City of Kalispell for your support over the past four years.
With your support we accomplished one of the largest fiscal and ideological turnarounds this city has ever seen. With your help we:
- brought our reserve balance from a dangerous low of $244,000 up to $1.9 million
- decreased the size of government, without decreasing the levels of service
- instituted a written policy mandating no discretionary spending until a reserve cap of 20 percent is met ensuring our long term financial future is secure
- removed unnecessary and outdated ordinances
- successfully fought against the infiltration of medical marijuana into our city
- maintained public safety, while respecting budget restrictions
- eliminated business-killing legislation such as transportation impact fees
- stopped expensive urban sprawl and annexations by substantially reducing our growth policy boundaries
- resolved outstanding legal claims and lawsuits cost-consciously and at a substantial reduction in taxpayer expense
- instituted a professional vetting process for Tax Increment Fund eligible projects
We made fiscal responsibility our policy in the City of Kalispell, and we did so without decreasing the level of service you need and deserve from your City.
This required not only your support and input, but also the dedication of our city employees who continued to do more with less every time we requested.
Our commitment to the success of this community is reflected by our remarkable achievements over the past four years.
My commitment to our community will not end with the sunset of my mayoral term. I look forward to continuing to represent our city in the state Senate, working to ensure:
- needless state restrictions on the City of Kalispell are eliminated so that we determine the fate of Kalispell, not the bureaucrats in Helena
- when a tax holiday is given out, we, the residents of this state, are first in the receiving line
- when an adequate reserve fund is achieved, our taxes are reduced or returned to us
Representing you has been one of the great honors of my life, and if the past four years is any reflection of what is to come, I can’t wait to get to work for you in the state Senate.
Tammi Fisher is the outgoing mayor of Kalispell.